Parliamentary questions

272. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to estimate the cost of increasing the capital funding to the National Parks and Wildlife service over five years, with an increase of 25% per year broken down by the cost per annum in years one to five. [28280/25]

273. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of WTE and HTE staff, by grade, working in the NPWS, and the estimated cost of increasing staffing by 50%, at each grade. [28281/25]

274. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost to retrofit a social home to a BER B2 or above. [28282/25]

275. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding that was allocated to local authorities to conduct hedgerow surveys in the years 2020 to 2024, inclusive, and the amount that was drawn down in each of those years. [28283/25]

276. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total cost of funds provided to complete hedgerow surveys in 2023; the average and median cost per successful applicant to complete a hedgerow survey in in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form, under the local biodiversity action fund. [28286/25]

277. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the 2030 retrofitting targets; to report on the pathway between now and 2030 to reach our 2030 targets; to provide a breakdown of projected or estimated targets for completed retrofits in social housing in each of the years from 2025 to 2030; to provide a breakdown of projected or estimated targets for c…

278. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority tenants in Dublin city that have had their homes retrofitted; the number planned to be carried out over next three years; the waiting time for tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28315/25]

279. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a breakdown of the average cost to upgrade to a BER B2 as part of the retrofit of social housing in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28316/25]

280. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a breakdown of the retrofitting targets in social housing in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; to provide a breakdown of how many retrofits were completed in social housing in the corresponding timeframe; to provide a breakdown of the retrofitting targets in social housing;…

281. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to estimate the cost to increase the energy efficiency retrofitting programme budget under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage over a five-year period, with an increase of 50% per year, broken down by years 1 to 5.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28321/25]

282. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when easing of planning regulations to allow for larger unattached structures to be built in peoples back gardens are expected to be in place; the size that will be enforced; the provisions that will be in place for an individual who breaches these planning laws; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2…

356. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 512 of 25 February 2025, his views on whether it is consistent with the aims of the Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy, namely that whether on welfare, in employment or a combination of both, a person can be assured of a minimum basic income and a person in employme…

357. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 8 May 2025, what constitutes a major emergency or disaster; if there is criteria for such; if any national storm events in the previous five years have been classed as posing significant and imminent threat to human life, property or the environment; and if he will m…

358. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the commitment to provide a timeline for publication of the wind energy guidelines 2025; to provide an update; to provide a timeline for publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27825/25]

359. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has considered that income limits for social housing eligibility act as a “welfare cliff” (details supplied) that disincentivise eligible individuals from taking up employment or applying for promotion. [26723/25]

360. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any engagements with his colleagues in the Department of Social Protection or the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment regarding the impact of social housing income limits on the behaviours of individuals who are on the housing list or preparing to apply for the list; if, in pa…

361. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline, given that social housing is a key part of the architecture of social protection in Ireland, his views on whether his Department’s approach to social housing income limits is consistent with the aims of the Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy; namely, that whether on welfare, in employment or…

362. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any research, completed or ongoing, concerning the impact of social housing income limits on the behaviours of individuals who are on the housing list or preparing to apply for the list; whether, in particular, the limits disincentivise taking up employment or applying for payments to whic…

363. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether legislation will be progressed indexing income limits for social housing eligibility to either inflation, the minimum wage, the median wage, average industrial wage, or lower quartile wage to reflect the decline in purchasing power over time of incomes that were previously considered to be too hi…

364. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that there are income gaps in the available housing schemes operated by his Department and by local authorities whereby a person’s income may be too high for social housing eligibility and at the same time too low for any available cost rental options or to take advantage of schemes for fi…

365. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider abolishing the income limits for social housing eligibility and fund a universally accessible social housing system through a scheme of differential rents. [26729/25]

366. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of children living in emergency accommodation for twenty-six months or more; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26732/25]

367. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of Children living in emergency accommodation for thirty-six months or more; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26733/25]

368. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to his Department’s announcement regarding available funding for the tenant-in-situ scheme, if an applicant (details supplied) has had their application refused despite meeting all the criteria of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26745/25]

369. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a ministerial order to allow the cutting of turf at a bog (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26901/25]