Questions

270. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are plans to introduce affordable housing schemes for self-employed persons. [18267/25]

271. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if regulations on service charges and sinking funds, which were drafted by the Housing Agency in February 2022, will be issued by the end of Q3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18280/25]

272. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has identified sufficient resources to put in place in Q4 2025 to enable the unit in the Housing Agency to regulate owners’ management companies, as envisaged in the Programme for Government, to commence its work on an administrative basis in Q1 2026. [18281/25]

273. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his Department's position on Dublin City Council's proposal to restrict care leavers' access to social housing, particularly excluding those coming from foster care. [18294/25]

274. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are plans to issue national guidelines to ensure that care leavers across all local authorities are adequately supported in accessing social housing. [18295/25]

275. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department is taking to support care leavers who are not eligible for housing priority under Dublin City Council's new criteria, particularly those leaving foster care, to prevent them from becoming homeless. [18296/25]

276. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will review planning regulations around hoarding and advertising on protected structures, such as the railway bridge at Ballybough, the only protected structure in the community, which is currently dominated by large-scale commercial advertising; if he will engage with Dublin City Council and Iarnród Éireann to exp…

277. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of Dublin City Council’s recent decision to restrict priority social housing status to care leavers coming solely from residential care, thereby excluding those transitioning from foster care; the measures his Department is taking to ensure that all vulnerable young people exiting State care, regardless of their care …

278. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the establishment of the Local Democracy Taskforce, as announced by his Department on 26 March 2025; the specific terms of reference for this taskforce; the timeline and mechanisms through which it intends to implement the Government’s commitments to rebalance power between elected councillors and executive officers…

279. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider extending eligibility for the vacant property refurbishment grant to include the conversion of vacant or underutilised retail premises such as "above the shop" units into residential accommodation, given the potential to deliver up to 20,000 additional homes as highlighted in the recent Hardware Association of…

280. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for finalising and publishing the revised local authority level social and affordable housing targets for the 2025 to 2030 period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18334/25]

281. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to improve data collection and database construction in anticipation of the increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails; if he will outline the logic behind their approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18363/25]

282. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any projects which the Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18380/25]

283. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any projects which a body under the aegis of his Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; if he will send this question to the bodies for direct response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18398/25]

284. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will specify the specific policy areas where the Department is examining future use of AI; if he will identify what entities the Department is working with, public or private, in relation to this examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18415/25]

285. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any AI training offered to people working in the Department; the level of take-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18432/25]

286. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail how many physical letters the Minister’s offices and the customer service team in the Department received from the public in 2024; whether those letters are digitised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18457/25]

287. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail how many emails the Minister’s offices and the customer service mailbox the Department received from the public in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18474/25]

288. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail whether any surveys have been carried out to estimate the amount of time taken up with administrative tasks where such time could be used more efficiently; if so, in which areas of the Department has this examination been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18491/25]

144. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if it is necessary to apply for planning permission in circumstances where a wind turbine is dismantled and removed from a wind farm and it is intended to instal a replacement wind turbine at the same location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17736/25]

145. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the ready-to-build scheme, outlining how many serviced sites are currently available per local authority for purchase, and how many are expected to come on stream in 2025 and 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17656/25]

146. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh den Aire Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta cén líon fóirne ar fud na n-údarás áitiúil a bhfuil an Ghaeilge ar a gcumas acu, agus an bhféadfaidh sé miondealú a thabhairt de réir údarás áitiúil. [17678/25]

147. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the car park at Glenveagh National Park, Donegal was last resurfaced or remarked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17719/25]

148. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is concerned at the declining number of habitable thatched houses in the State; if he accepts that the cost of thatching together with the difficulty in securing affordable insurance presents particular difficulties for residents in these classic homes; if he further accepts that the level of grant aid available for retha…

149. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the action that has been taken to allow for plebiscites to change placenames; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17803/25]