Parliamentary questions

267. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if new terrestrial and marine sites continue to be assessed as sites of community importance, or if the focus is solely on progressing current SCIs to SAC status; the rationale behind same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49320/25]

268. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps that have been taken to date in response to the request for SAC designation of a site (details supplied); the timeframe for action if no steps have been taken, given that this is a simple site with only one landowner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49321/25]

269. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a site (details supplied) will be selected as a monitoring site for future reporting under Article 17 of the EU Habitats Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49322/25]

270. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a list of prospective sites for SCI designation is kept by the scientific unit of the National Parks and Wildlife Service; if this list will be made public with an indication of each habitats from the earliest entry date to the most recent entry, in the interests of transparency; and if he will make …

271. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if every local authority has adopted and published an operational policy for the room for a student local authority tenancies scheme, which permits social housing tenants to let a room to a third-level student; the date this scheme commenced nationally; the guidance or circulars issued to local authorities; the …

272. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if income earned under the room for a student local authority tenancies scheme is treated as reckonable for local authority differential rent purposes; the standard approach that is required of local authorities in assessing such income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49336/25]

273. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the protections a building contractor has under the defective concrete block grant scheme, if the homeowner has not paid them for certified and completed works, and then changes their building contractor at a point in the process. [49358/25]

274. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 497 of 24 June 2025, for an update regarding the issue which continues to be causing problems for the boatmen, is most unsightly for the many tourists in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49360/25]

275. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider introducing stronger requirements to ensure essential infrastructure, such as public lighting, footpaths, crèche facilities and community amenities, are completed before or during construction, prior to granting permissions to developers, in view of the 70 housing developments in County Lou…

276. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1106 of 8 September 2025, the research carried out by his Department which indicated the impact that the provision of a 5% minimum requirement for artistic and cultural spaces in future large scale housing developments would have on the delivery of these projects; and if he wi…

277. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1106 of 8 September 2025, if he is concerned of the impact that the removal of the provision of a 5% minimum requirement for artistic and cultural spaces in future large scale housing developments will have on the long-term liveability and quality of life for residents; and if…

278. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1106 of 8 September 2025, if he engaged with elected councillors in local authorities across the country in advance of removing the 5% minimum requirement for artistic and cultural spaces in future large scale housing developments (details supplied); and if he will make a stat…

279. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the application under the built heritage investment scheme by a school (details supplied); the basis for the refusal of this application; if this building qualifies under the terms of the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49386/25]

280. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of planning applications referred to An Bord Pleanála in each county for each of the past five years. [49434/25]

281. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing planning applications that have been approved, refused, withdrawn, or deemed invalid by An Bord Pleanála in each county for each of the past five years, in tabular form. [49435/25]

282. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the current planning policies requiring a minimum period of residence, often seven years, before an applicant can seek permission to build a dwelling in a rural area; if there are circumstances in which applicants who have resided in the area for less than seven years, such as five years, may be…

283. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the specific steps in the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity which will address planning delays, approval times and regulatory burdens for housing developers in Cork suburbs e.g. Glanmire, Blarney, Bishopstown; if he will publish target timelines for planning decisions in those areas; and if resource…

284. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding which has been allocated or ring-fenced to support necessary infrastructure that is, roads, drainage, schools, healthcare, broadband in regard to recently approved major housing schemes in north Cork and Cork city suburbs; the timelines for availability of those supports; and the monitoring which exis…

285. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of Government annual housing targets which have been met as of September 2025 in each local authority to date; the councils that are on track and those which are falling behind; and the interventions planned to address under-performance ahead of year-end. [49510/25]

620. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will introduce a policy or guidelines to manage the dramatic increase in the number of applications for large-scale solar farms; how he intends on regulating these developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49137/25]

621. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that people registering for a postal vote due to disability or illness are required to have their application form certified by a doctor, and that many doctors charge a fee for this; if he accepts that this fee acts as a barrier to people with disabilities or long-term illnesses exercising their ri…

622. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on his plans for further funding of local authorities for the housing adaptation grant schemes and increasing housing adaptation and mobility and access grant amounts to cover the cost of disability adaptations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47645/25]

623. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of people waiting for all types of housing adaptation grants in county Louth, by the length of time they have been waiting, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47646/25]

624. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has reviewed the affordable housing scheme and issues arising from it; if any further affordable housing is due to come on stream in county Louth in the next 12-months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47647/25]

625. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an assessment has been or is being carried out on the modern methods of construction used at a housing project at Grange Drive, Dundalk, county Louth; if there are plans for further use of this technology in similar schemes in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47648/25]