Parliamentary questions

605. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date on which his Department last received an update from the Building Control Management System on the validation of Modern Methods of Construction data; the expected completion date for this validation; and the internal deadline his Department has set for publishing the first tranche of MMC statistics. [723…

606. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department has taken since 2022 to establish a residential-specific productivity baseline for use in housing policy formation, including any internal memoranda, assessment frameworks or technical guidance issued to inform national housing targets. [72307/25]

607. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has conducted any assessment of the budgetary or value-for-money risks arising from the absence of residential-specific productivity indicators in the construction sector; and the outcomes of any such assessment. [72308/25]

608. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date on which his Department last requested the Central Statistics Office to examine residential construction productivity separately from other construction activity; and to provide details of any technical workstreams, consultations or data-sharing arrangements agreed since 2022. [72309/25]

609. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the dates on which the Housing Activation Office submitted reports to him since 1 January 2023 identifying infrastructure barriers to housing delivery; the number of barriers escalated; and the number that remain unresolved following those reports. [72310/25]

610. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the categories of infrastructure barriers escalated to him by the Housing Activation Office since 2023, including transport, utilities, water services, planning or procurement; and the corrective actions his Department has directed in each case. [72311/25]

611. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline his Department has set for publishing a consolidated annual report of housing activation barriers, actions and progress; and whether this report will include local-authority-level detail. [72312/25]

612. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details on the current grant for septic tank improvements; and if it is still necessary to have registered a septic tank in 2012 to be eligible for a grant. [72316/25]

613. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the instances in which an application would be considered for the development contribution waiver scheme after the application deadline; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72329/25]

614. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the over-the-shop grant will be introduced; the amount of grant aid that will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72371/25]

615. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the criteria to qualify for the over-the-shop grant (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72372/25]

616. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views regarding energy cloud; if he has considered including the use of surplus energy as part of the Government's social housing retrofit programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72385/25]

617. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify the change to the vacant property grant that is being considered regarding introducing a €650,000 cap on the value of the property for which a grant will be paid out on; and when will a decision on this be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72429/25]

618. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a specific analysis will be undertaken of the impact of a possible change to the Vacant Property Grant regarding introducing a €650,000 cap on the value of the property for which a grant will be paid out on in Dublin (city and county); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72430/25]

619. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether, if he makes a change to the vacant property grant regarding introducing a €650,000 cap on the value of the property, when would this change apply from; and the protections that would be put in place for people who are currently in the process of buying a home over the cap and who were relying on the…

620. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the National Parks and Wildlife Service has contingency plans in place if the invasive demon shrimp (dikerogammarus haemobaphes) infiltrates Lough Corrib SAC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72497/25]

621. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department is considering proposals to change the eligibility criteria of the vacant property refurbishment grant (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72560/25]

622. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider a lead-in time when changing the eligibility of a scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72561/25]

429. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of plans on universal design for independent living purposes, considering that around 1,300 disabled people live in nursing homes; if he will give assurances that the State support for disabled people can and will ensure independent living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70983/25]

430. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department, and agencies under the Department’s remit, purchase data on the habits and activities of social media users and other platforms; if so, the reasons for purchasing such data; the amount spent in 2024 and 2025 year to date on such expenditure, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on …

431. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 516 of 25 November 2025, if being priced out of private rental options as inflation rises will in future reverse sufficiently to place persons back within reach of their income threshold (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70921/25]

432. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the introduction of a new single stage process for social housing delivery; when this process will be available to local authorities; and the number of applications that have been received under this process to date. [70926/25]

433. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he intends to publish the planning policy statement on short-term letting; and if he will give a commitment to publish the statement in draft form to allow the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing to scrutinise the statement prior to its adoption by Government. [70927/25]

434. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the regulations included in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 to permit victims of domestic abuse to end a joint application and, with the agreement of a landlord and without delay, submit and secure a new application for the same property to ensure the victim, not the perpetrator…

435. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the regulations included in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 that prevent a joint HAP application from being split into two separate applications in cases of domestic abuse (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70962/25]