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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 Deputy for this important question. I am very much aware of the housing crisis right across this country that causes very serious pain and suffering for individual families as a result. That is why I am determined to get our housing deliveries increased at a significant

respect the rights of every Deputy who is elected to this House. I respect their rights

purpose-built accommodation for 1,534. We have 38,000 students in Cork between UCC and MTU. The average rent for a house in Cork right now is more than €2,000. That is one example of what the Minister can tackle but I would be concerned

fight in wars for European or US empires. The Government now wants to spend billions of euro more on weapons that should rightly go to housing, health and education. Connolly would turn in his grave

this was what they told the people of Ireland in the lead-up to the general election. I have no faith that the housing crisis will be solved under this Government. It simply does not have the will or the ability to clean up the mess it made … these proposed changes and cuts is the tenant in situ scheme. It is not often that the Government gets things right when it comes to housing but, under pressure from Sinn Féin and other Opposition parties, the former Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was forced

house, because he is a single man. He does not receive the payment. Many people who are currently in very difficult housing situations - in crisis - rightly feel there is a two-tier situation in terms of income and funds from the State for housing accommodation. People who perhaps

want to put that on the record because there are many other people like this. I will finish by saying housing should be a right and not a privilege determined by the size of one's family. The restrictions on the tenant in situ scheme need

honest truth about it, if we are meaning to do something. There are vacant homes in Kerry, Cork and everywhere. Right around me are vacant houses. People will not rent when they have to pay back 50% of what they get from the rent. When they want their

date for delivery of affordable homes by our delivery partners and I note the hard work going into that delivery right across the sector. Affordable housing schemes are now operating at scale and this momentum will continue as the pipeline is developed by local authorities, approved housing bodies

today, our Taoiseach spoke about nobody in this House having the monopoly on care or empathy when it comes to housing. Do you know what? He is right. What the Government has now is a monopoly on power. What is it going to do with it? In whose

duty to campaign. They have to campaign for recognition. They have to lobby politicians to bring their pleas to this House urging Government to do the right thing. In many ways, last year was a sea-change. I hope it will mark a turning point in how this

about the left or the right; it is about right and wrong. Independent Ireland stands for straight-talking common sense. Every cent wasted by the Government is stolen from essential services such as health, housing, rural transport and support for carers, farmers and fishermen. We were founded … stuff. It will never happen and they know it now. The people of Dunmanway are rightly angered. They cannot build one house because there is no money for a wastewater treatment plant, but at the same time there is €300 million for a metro in Dublin with

represent our communities, to raise the issues that matter to the communities we represent, who are concerned about the housing crisis, the climate catastrophe, disability rights, Trump's threatened tariffs, yes, and of course hideous global conflict. These are the matters we should all be focusing on. That … Government and Opposition TDs. Indeed, that was in the terms of the agreement made and read out by Hildegarde Naughton in this House on 23 January. Instead of respecting the Opposition's constitutional duty to hold the Government to account, and instead of honouring that agreement to make

Department. That is regrettable because what we should be doing is looking for the injustices in society and righting them. We should be having success in the House rather than being dictated to. We should not drag a man and his family, or any person in this State … good Bill and I appreciate it being brought before the House, it should not have happened in this manner. We should never have had to wait for the Supreme Court to tell us what is the right thing to do. What the Government, the Minister and his Department

sums, if they were to start right now, which they do not even have an appetite to do, it would take five to seven years. If a 29-year-old living in Cloughjordan wanted get planning permission to build a house, that 29-year-old would probably … seeing the first home scheme take off in the way we should in Tipperary. Those who would develop houses are going to be incentivised to go to the county right next door or just cross the county bounds next door. I will also touch on the delivery

familiar with these kinds of cases. He has worked on them too. I imagine many other Members of the House have as well. The Deputy is right that we are legislators. We make the law and it is up to the agencies of the State to enforce that … complaint is appropriate or whether it can accept that complaint. An agency and organisation, operating under the laws we develop in this House and pass as a sovereign Parliament, should be able to interpret those laws and we should give it the latitude it needs to be able

which ultimately just increases the cost of delivery of a housing scheme. We need to do something to streamline that. I do not know how many times I have spoken in here about positive ageing and right-sizing of properties. We delegate that and say that local authorities … State is probably familiar with the area; it is a fairly affluent area. These people have massive houses and their families have flown the nest. They are looking to right size but without the direction of the Department, this initiative, with the way it is running

People in this country have gone out of their way to help people from Ukraine and it was the right thing to do. People opened up their houses and provided people with rooms, which was fantastic. However, a minority of people have come in, claiming they are from

During this debate we have, quite rightly, heard references from both sides of the House to preserving the international world order and the rule of law. However, a Deputy from the Social Democrats - I do not know whether he was enunciating Social Democrat policy - said there should

CREL initiative, for example, and the LDA has effectively been upfronting the financing of a lot of private sector housing. That is de facto what is happening right now through

wife and friends throughout Ireland. On International Women's Day, my commitment is that, as a Member of this House, I will pursue policies that advance the rights of women and also the equality of opportunity for women

point the Deputy has made and I believe it is the right one, in that we need to look at the system. I accept that is going to require a more detailed debate in the House. It is clear to me that, if we have a situation where … will likely require legislative change, where I would like to work constructively in this House to see if we can get to a point of consensus on that. It is not about the right to assessment, which I will defend. Rather, the rigidity stemming from the 2022 High

Today I stand before the House representing the voice of the Irish taxpayer who is rightly appalled by the flagrant waste of public money on this and the previous Government's watch. Where is the accountability? Where are the checks and balances in the public procurement process … that is rampant in the public sector. It allowed taxpayers to follow the money. It was a tool to enable Members of this House and the press to track where money was being spent. One thing we know for certain is that money is being spent

gender equality, some of which I will outline today, have never been more important and I look forward to working with this House and all stakeholders to ensure we can advance these priorities together. As Minister with responsibility for gender equality, I am especially pleased that we will … pursuit of gender equality is an issue that concerns us all, including everyone in this House, as well as all those who walk the streets of our towns and villages right across the entire country. For women and for men, for girls and for boys, it is vital

case where turbary rights are linked to a dwelling house, the person or body that validates that there is a dwelling house attached to the turbary rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11957/25

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether turbary rights are assigned to a property with a dwelling house or to land without a dwelling house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11955/25

Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to address the many scenarios in which citizens and registered voters are unable to exercise the right to vote due to, for example, illness (including Covid); holidays; work abroad; and so on; and if he will