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Kildare, I saw that at first hand. I saw it from the point of view of the person who could not get a house, obtain zoning for land or build a house. We have seen planning permissions come in. In some locations, the people have been against them … others people have been for them, so delivering houses, as we know, is very complex. A commission report like this tries to deal with the larger issues and to cut across the issue. We know it is an impossible task just to try to crystallise what is happening

thank the Minister of State for being here today. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on such an important issue. The housing crisis is the single greatest issue facing my generation, including young people like me trying to get a start in life, those … quality of life, a better chance abroad, working families caught in a rental trap or not being able to afford a mortgage, social housing waiting lists and older people or pensioners who are caught renting and worried about their tenure for years to come relying on a pension

move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: notes that: — increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and preventing and ultimately eliminating long-term homelessness, and the clear focus of Government must therefore remain on increasing … supply of new build social and affordable homes; — notwithstanding, a targeted second-hand social housing acquisition programme has been and will continue to be an important policy response to priority needs such as tenancy sustainment, exits from homelessness, support for elderly and disabled persons and tackling vacancy

thank the House for the debate on the report of the Housing Commission and the views put forward throughout it. I once again express my appreciation to the commission members for their time, effort and commitment. It is clear from the views expressed during the debate that there … debate to an end. The commission's observation that Ireland has poor outcomes among European peers, given our level of expenditure on housing, has been raised on multiple occasions since the report was published and again during the debate. It is easy for the point to be misconstrued

right to housing is a human right, enshrined in Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN rapporteur on the right to housing reiterated that position, saying that although increasingly viewed as a commodity, housing is, most importantly, a human right. The Housing Commission … report seeks to vindicate that human right. It says that housing must be a unique, national priority. It talks about the failure to treat housing as a critical social and economic priority and goes on to say: "Only a radical strategic reset of housing policy will work

thank the Minister for being here for the debate. We have already spoken at length since the formation of this Dáil about the housing crisis. We all accept that the one thing we can all agree on is that it is a very acute crisis. Certainly … crisis that has deepened in recent years and we must find solutions to it. We will agree that whatever about individual measures, housing supply is ultimately the only solution to resolve this issue. We saw the report from the Central Bank today where the increase in property prices

have the chance to raise these important issues. I wish to discuss and deal with the issues preventing homeowners from renting out vacant houses and the tax that people have to pay. People must pay up to 50% in tax when they rent a private house … respect of a house that they want to rent out. Fifty percent of €800 is only €400, and it is not worthwhile for many people who I know with these types of houses. The other thing is that people cannot get tenants out when they want to. That

from private development, including public funding. We know that record public funding has been put in for 2025. In order to get our housing market working, there are two key elements that international institutions look at before they commit finance to home construction finance. These are the return … need are policy certainty and stability in the medium term. From my perspective as a newly elected TD, I am very aware that housing is a major social and economic challenge that touches every generation. In 1983, my parents were offered a council house by Kilkenny County Council

very much welcome the opportunity to speak on what was a groundbreaking report by the Housing Commission. I join in acknowledging the members of that Housing Commission who gave their time and service to the State. While we might not necessarily agree with all the recommendations in that … clap on the back attitude we see from Government week in, week out on its own efforts to meet the huge housing need in our State. We are expected to be grateful and wondrous that social housing output is supposedly back at 1970s levels or back

finally here. It is only a few short weeks into the term of this Government and already it appears that the Government's housing plan has failed. We have a continuation of the previous Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their catastrophic handling of the housing … scale of homelessness across the State; it excludes those couch surfing, those sleeping rough and many others. The failures of the Government on housing are evident in every constituency in this State. TDs such as myself were inundated with calls from people desperate for accommodation

proposed changes to this scheme are greatly concerning. I believe they will cause havoc. This is a scheme broadly welcomed across the House. It is one that has seemed to be working. Does it need to be improved? Everything, of course, can be improved and I would have … flexibility for the local authority to do that, it will not help their case. The two-year rule - in other words, that the house needs to be within the social housing net for two years with the tenant getting a rent subsidy, housing assistance payment or rental assistance

asking the Minister to do what was done in the 1970s. I certainly will not apologise because we need social housing to be built on a massive scale. There is no other solution to end this housing crisis. I was in the Dáil over ten years ago. Housing … inconsequential to the Government now. I thought it was bad then but now it is unbelievable, in comparison. The Taoiseach said housing was not a central issue in the election campaign. That was his excuse for the Government basically telling lies to the population about the housing figures

housing targets were missed last year by a country mile. The leaders of the Government promised before the election that up to 40,000 units would be delivered, but when we got through the election, we discovered that we just about built 30,000. The signs this year … social housing in particular, and indeed for housing delivery overall, are not very promising. Two areas that are really being left behind are cost rental and affordable-to-buy housing. The affordable housing scheme, as currently designed, is not working and it will not work in most parts

school day. While the Dáil rose last week, we all learned something new. We all thought we knew why we had a housing crisis in this country - the number one issue facing this country, as the Taoiseach just said. We thought we had a housing crisis because … dereliction and its ill-conceived planning Act, apparently drafted for and by developers. We all thought these were causal factors of the housing crisis, but after watching the Taoiseach's bilateral press conference with US President Trump last week, we all were surprised to learn that, in fact

which states that the purchase price and associated fees, such as valuation, legal, etc., will only be recouped to local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, and must be within acquisition cost guidelines. This means that no refurbishment costs can be claimed on the scheme and that only … legal and valuation fees can. This excludes large swathes of people in the private rental market who live in poor quality housing due to no fault of their own. AHBs and homelessness organisations have written to the Minister on this and said clearly that access to funding

discuss those issues with them. On the housing issue, if I could comment for a moment, there were several projections throughout 2024 in respect of completions. We have exceeded targets, particularly in 2022 and 2023. We exceeded Central Bank targets and other targets that suggested we would come … Euroconstruct and others were predicting far higher numbers. It was extremely disappointing that we did not make those targets in 2024. The overall Housing for All targets were exceeded in that three-year period, but that is not enough. We have to build more houses and we have

luck. I genuinely mean that. Today, we had the Taoiseach on his feet telling us that the Government's biggest commitment was to housing, and that the biggest commitment of his party and the other parties that are in government, including the Independents, was to housing, yet where … homelessness in the past year, with 15,000 people in emergency accommodation, and 4,500 of those are children. This is not a housing crisis, but a housing emergency, and it is about time that this Government recognised that and declared it. We are looking at increases

constituency so we should be able to work closely together. I think this is the second or third time I have spoken about housing today in the Dáil. It is a huge crisis and a huge issue. It does not matter if it is a young person looking … fund it properly. Homelessness is exploding, with 15,000 people in emergency accommodation, and yet the Government pauses a scheme that keeps families housed. The housing crisis is turning into housing chaos as more people are pushed out of their homes each year while the Government drags

approved bus service under BusConnects. It will be linked to the city very efficiently. Carrignavar has not seen a new housing development in over ten years because its wastewater treatment plant is at capacity. It is a perfect example. It got a new school. When … would be a missed opportunity if we did not at least explore that. The second issue I wish to raise is social housing. Since July 2020, 42,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock nationally while 2023 saw 12,000 new builds, acquisitions

where my colleague, Deputy Sheehan, left off. What the Government intends to do if it implements all the recommendations from the Department of housing is turn a scheme, albeit an imperfect one, that was keeping people out of homelessness into a zombie scheme. It will be a scheme … existed for the last number of years, is a function of a dysfunctional market. It would not exist if we had a housing system that functioned but we do not. Unfortunately, we needed a tenant in situ scheme to keep families, single people and couples without children

know from our time shared on Cork County Council the delivery of affordable housing was something on which the Deputy was insistent and I am glad that much of this is coming to fruition. The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver affordable housing … scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. The Government’s ambition is to build on progress to date under Housing for All and deliver more than 300,000 homes in the period from 2025 to 2030 with an annual average of more than

that, as Minister for Justice, I do not look at it as just a policing issue. I am conscious that Members of this House do not view it as simply a policing issue. I will look at An Garda Síochána because, in any debate on policing and safety … important we resource An Garda Síochána, that we give it appropriate powers and that it performs the duties we in this House have allocated to it through legislation. At present, the standard political response in this House is that, along with most members of the public, most political

think I have had the opportunity to congratulate the Minister in the House so I will start by doing so and wishing him well in his new role. I wish him great success. I am sure he will make a success of it because I know … honest and decent character. Is there a doctor in the House? I feel a bit faint because I found myself agreeing with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett and I may need my pulse taken. Some valid points were made by Deputy Boyd Barrett today, especially in the context

There is now a mountain of evidence that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael deliberately misrepresented housing delivery figures during the election. The Taoiseach cannot continue to deny it. This is a Comical Ali routine he is playing in pretending it was somehow an honest mistake. Not content with … figures, the targets for this year are now being clearly reverse engineered. When the Taoiseach was asked by RTÉ in February about housing targets for this year, he dodged the question. He would not give an answer on housing targets for this year. In advance of the election

cruinne, daoine óga agus iad ag tógáil fréamhacha i dtíortha coimhthíocha. It is because of this Government's failure on housing that we see such a large scattering of our young people, people who have no hope in this Government turning the corner on the issues of housing … sitting, was not achievable. The Minister for Finance got up two days before he received that document and said that 40,000 houses would be delivered by the end of the year. The experts in his Department give him a document stating that 40,000 houses

Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that Government-funded approved housing bodies (AHBs) are competing with potential owner occupiers to buy houses, and in Limerick analysis suggests that AHBs buy six out of every ten new homes … which is totally distorting the market; if there is a strategy in place to ensure a good mix in future housing developments, to allow owner occupiers purchase houses in new estates and to avoid the mistakes of the past, whereby there was often an over concentration of social

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will revise current housing policies to ensure fairness for older individuals who have contributed to society throughout their lives, specifically, many retirees who only become eligible for placement on the housing waiting list once … upon retirement, a situation which forces them to face unaffordable market rental rates and wait times of up to 10 years for social housing; if he will establish a dedicated mechanism that prioritises and expedites access to affordable and social housing for retirees; and if he will make

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Exchequer funding for the Housing First scheme is separate to the acquisitions funding announced March 2025; the amount of funding allocated to Housing First in 2025; and the reason his Department is preventing approved … housing bodies from utilising capital assistance leasing funding for Housing first Acquisitions. [12125/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total capital expenditure in 2024 for the Social Housing Investment Programme, capital advance leasing facility, capital assistance scheme, cost rental equity loan, affordable housing fund, Land Development Agency and approved housing body borrowings. [13669/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total capital expenditure in 2024 for the Social Housing Investment Programme, capital advance leasing facility, capital assistance scheme, cost rental equity loan, affordable housing fund, Land Development Agency and approved housing body borrowings. [13674/25

Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on a proposal from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on ways to alleviate the debt levels in the approved housing bodies sector and to address concerns within the sector, regarding compliance … with regulatory obligations and the financial implications of significant levels of debt, which was sent as a sanction request from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in August 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11469/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on its engagement with off-balance sheet borrowing by approved housing bodies (AHBs) for the delivery of social and affordable housing; and to provide an update on his Departments consideration on proposals … from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to address the impact of gearing on future AHBs' borrowing levels. [12126/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will next update the Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) and the Acquisition Cost Guidelines (ACGs) for social housing; if these same measures are applied to affordable housing delivered via cost rental equity loan, CREL … affordable housing fund, AHF; and if he will give a commitment to make the revised BUCs and ACGs available to Deputies, on publication.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12652/25

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the social and affordable housing completion figures for 2024 will be published; the number of social housing, cost rental and local authority affordable housing units, respectively, constructed in 2024; to provide a breakdown of each

Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a breakdown of the number of void houses in Leitrim and Sligo local authority housing supply; the number of weeks, months years that these houses have been vacant or void; and if he will make

Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the affordable housing scheme in light of difficulties local authorities such as Galway County Council are having in providing affordable housing, given that the affordability gain of 15% cannot

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether the commencement of a multi-stakeholder group (details supplied) on 27 March 2025 to address the range of problems affecting victims of the defective concrete block crisis is a welcome development … that it is important that his senior Department of housing officials accept the invitation to attend and participate, given the need to restore a normal and functioning housing market in the affected areas. [13412/25

Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in light of the ongoing delay in his Department's approvals for affordable housing projects funded via SHIP, CAS, CALF, CREL and AHF, if he believes it important to deliver affordable housing units

Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of new build homes to include both apartments and houses, both private and social housing, constructed in 2022, 2023 & 2024, in Greystones, Delgany, Kilcoole, Newcastle, Newtownmountkennedy & Roundwood; and if he will make

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of vacant housing officers, per local authority, in terms of full-time equivalent posts, in tabular form; the expenditure per local authority on addressing housing vacancy in each of the years

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify the current status of the tenant-in-situ scheme; if the scheme is still in operation; the funding allocated to the scheme in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; the number … housing units purchased via the scheme in 2023 and 2024, by local authority, in tabular form; if he will provide the guidelines issued to local authorities and the Housing Agency in respect of the scheme’s operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14156/25

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm if he intends to review the housing completion target for 2025; the number of new homes his Department estimates will now be completed in 2025; the additional measures he plans to take to increase … housing construction; the engagement he has had with the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, respectively, on new taxation and expenditure measures to boost delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12698/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to comment on the ongoing delay in his Department's approvals for social and affordable housing projects funded via SHIP, CAS, CALF, CREL and AHF; to confirm the total number of projects submitted … under each funding stream since September 2024 to date in 2025; the number that have been approved, and the local authority, or approved housing bodies, involved formally notified of that approval during the same time period. [13256/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm the total delivery of affordable purchase and cost-rental homes in 2024 by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency; and his views on the low output under these schemes … growing number of people unable to access these properties due to the unaffordable rents and house prices. [13257/25

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the role of accessibility officers in Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council; what oversight is in place to ensure future housing developments meet universal design standards; and if additional measures … being considered to improve accessibility in social and affordable housing projects. [12947/25

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the planned provision of disability-specific housing to include all schemes such as second-hand acquisitions programme, housing adaptation grants funding and new builds; and if he will make

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will commence a survey to establish the number of defective concrete block homeowners in counties Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, and Limerick who cannot avail of the defective concrete block grant scheme for financial … other reasons; if he will commence a parallel survey to establish the number of defective concrete block homes in the housing stock of local authorities and approved housing bodies in counties Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, and Limerick. [11849/25

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a timeline and action plan for meeting the targets to work towards ending homelessness, as agreed in the Lisbon Declaration; the additional policy measures he intends to take; if he will consider amending the Housing … oblige local authorities to take into account the best interests of a homeless child, as outlined in the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12699/25

Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the action he proposes to take regarding research received by his Department from the Housing Agency on Social Housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12686/25

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the measures he is taking to increase housing supply in Kerry, including social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12782/25