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move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "acknowledges that: — Housing for All sets out an ambitious multi-annual programme that seeks to deliver more than 300,000 new homes between 2022 and 2030; — more than 133,000 new build homes … were delivered between 2020 and 2024, with 92,500 of these delivered between 2022 and 2024, exceeding the Housing for All target for the period by some 5,500 or so new homes, and a 49 per cent increase on the quantum delivered in the previous three-year

move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — a housing emergency exists in the State; and — housing is a human right as enshrined in Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; further notes that: — 15,286 homeless people, including 4,603 children, were in emergency accommodation … January 2025; — the typical listed house price across the country is €346,080, 11.6 per cent higher than a year ago and 35 per cent higher than at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Dublin figure is €460,726, up 12.2 per cent on last

housing crisis situation is an emergency and I ask the Minister to take this motion on board. I thank its proposers for tabling it. There are many ideas in it that we in the Social Democrats have put forward. It was ten years ago, when I was involved … with trade union groups and housing campaigns, that we called on Fine Gael, which was in government at the time, to declare the housing crisis an emergency. Every year since, homelessness has risen, except of course during a Covid year, and we have seen house prices and rents

elected in 2016 and since then, with all my colleagues here, we have begged, implored and appealed to the Government to declare a housing emergency to recognise that we have crisis but it has utterly failed to do that. Once again, it keeps turning language on its head … even in relation to social housing as it called HAP provision social housing. I am here to support this motion. The Housing Commission report has been quoted many times. It is really worth quoting because the Housing Commission had 200 meetings and developed 83 recommendations. I want

their contributions. I echo the comments made by the Minister and reassert the Government's commitment to tackling the challenges in the housing sector. We know these challenges are having a genuine impact on people's lives and understand the urgency and need to ensure sufficient numbers … progress made to date. Indeed, some of the proposals put forward in the motion would be more likely to deepen and perpetuate the housing crisis rather than resolve it. Let me touch on some of them. The motion calls for a blanket ban on rent increases

There are a couple of things I want to raise in this very important debate. We know we have a housing crisis and a housing emergency. The first one is the issue of responsibility and accountability. We have a fundamental problem here in that water is clearly … Department of housing's website as one of its core five competencies, along with planning, housing, heritage and local government. Irish Water is a State-owned company. Its shareholders are the Minister for public expenditure and the Minister for housing, and the Minister for housing appoints the board

obvious the Government does not want to solve the housing crisis. It has dropped the pretence. It has no targets, it is curtailing the tenant in situ scheme, it has always resisted rent controls and its homelessness figures continue to rise. It does absolutely nothing about … stop the flow into homelessness. It is planning to remove even the minimal rent controls. It does not want to solve the housing crisis. The truth about the Government's housing policy was revealed in the White House in the exchange between Donald Trump and Micheál Martin. When

Sullivan introduced in 2017. There was talk last year that this Bill was going to be included in the Government's miscellaneous housing Bill. It never made the Bill, but it is an important and practical measure. I have begun the steps of restoring this Bill … years now. The Labour Party introduced legislation in 2021 to enact its recommendations. We know land is at the centre of the housing crisis. Many of the problems we face at present could have been avoided had this report been implemented. The report's recommendation that local authorities

thank Deputy Timmins for raising this in his role as TD for Wicklow. Under Housing for All, the Government has committed to delivering 47,600 new-build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022 to 2026. Our clear focus … increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs. The number of new-build social homes in the pipeline continues to remain strong year on year, with new construction projects getting under way regularly. The strongest national delivery

Impact Statement, the Post-Consultation Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Report, and the Appropriate Assessment Determination. I welcome the opportunity to come before the House to discuss and seek approval for the final draft of the revised national planning framework, which was approved by the Government on 8 April … reflects the importance and the urgency of a co-ordinated, plan-led approach for the effective delivery of critical development, such as housing, employment and climate-resilient electricity generation. This is an addition to the facilities and services required to meet the needs of our citizens. I wish

local area plans, but they also provide a long-term strategic framework for investment and delivery of much-needed infrastructure and for housing. Getting it right is crucial and getting it wrong is more than damaging. In order to get the plan right, the process … Oireachtas. The document itself should have been brought into committee. There should have been an opportunity for detailed scrutiny, not just in our housing and planning committee but in other committees as well. Instead we got a very brief session several days before the dissolution of the Dáil

nonetheless hugely disappointing, and even shocking, because there is absolutely no acceptance of the depth and breadth of what is an intolerable housing emergency. This emergency started with the privatisation of the local authority house building programme by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, back in the early … 2000s. Many of us warned then that would be the start of a huge housing crisis down the road. We were not listened to, of course, and here we find ourselves now in what is accepted by the vast majority of people in this House, on both Government

allow them to amend their county development and local area plans. Because of the delay, I have seen a planning application for 335 houses in Blessington, County Wicklow, which was supported by the council and all the elected members, refused by An Bord Pleanála because the local area … plan was not up to date with the new housing targets. No guidance has been issued at this stage on headroom. From my experience of development plans, the previous direction from the Office of the Planning Regulator was 0% headroom, which was misguided. It is imperative that there

homes which we need to plan for in a sustainable manner. This will require more land to be zoned, as well as more housing from other sources, such as through tackling vacancy and dereliction to utilise our existing building stock and to assist with meeting our climate obligations … does not itself zone land and there must therefore be a further step to formalise the translation of updated NPF population and housing figures to the local level. The allocation of updated planning housing growth requirements on a local authority by local authority basis will involve a balanced

propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Monday, 31 March and is due to meet again this Thursday, 1 May. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of housing policy. Housing supply … increased significantly over the past number of years. We now have the highest social housing build per annum in half a century, while the latest figures published by the CSO show that almost 6,000 new homes were completed in the first quarter of this year, a rise

thank the Deputy for raising this issue and providing the opportunity to update the House on this important matter. Modern methods of construction are a key measure to support the delivery of housing under Housing for All and the programme for Government and have the potential to boost … term used to describe a range of compliant manufacturing and innovative construction including modular systems as alternatives to traditional construction. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Government’s commitment to modern methods of construction has been clearly outlined in the new programme for Government

able to attend as I was in Dublin. It is an achievement that needs to be acknowledged formally in the House. He is a fantastic ambassador and like me, has strong Kilkenny connections, being originally from Goresbridge. I acknowledge Willie Mullins, Patrick Mullins and the whole team … they have done. It is magnificent. The programme for Government commits to investing additional capital in Uisce Éireann to support reaching our new housing targets. In addition, it states that the Government will prioritise water and wastewater infrastructure to deliver the capacity to facilitate housing development

national scandal. It is the civil rights issue of our generation. As legislators, we must do all we can to see this housing disaster addressed. We must build affordable and social homes, protect renters and tackle vacancy and dereliction, but the Government is not doing enough … this. The Taoiseach's party, Fianna Fáil, has held the housing brief for nearly five years. For most of that period, it has simply doubled down on failed Housing for All policies. More recently, it seems, the party is diversifying. It has not launched anything like the "radical

disagree fundamentally with Deputy Bacik's analysis in terms of housing policy more generally. Fianna Fáil and the previous Government did not double down on the policy of the last number of decades. The bottom line is, in 2023, for example, we saw the highest level of delivery … build social housing since 1975. That is not doubling down on previous policies. It represents a step change in the building of social housing, which has happened over the past three to four years. The Deputy cannot deny that. We have higher targets but you simply cannot deny

unfortunately, it is insufficient and inadequate in a number of areas, which I will talk about presently. I wish to discuss the housing emergency because it is linked to this. It is linked to what is absent from the planning objectives. I refer to the absence … objective to deliver affordable housing and any assessment of what scale of affordable housing is required or how it is going to be delivered and where. We heard a claim yesterday by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, that the Social Democrats and the Opposition had not put forward ideas

will provide the Minister of State with an example of an application that is with Uisce Éireann at the moment. There are 42 houses to be built in Pallaskenry. I will ask for the Minister of State's help with this. All that is needed … page stating that there is capacity in the sewerage system. This is delaying the building of 42 houses in Pallaskenry. I have been on to Uisce Éireann and our local county council. The executive met with Uisce Éireann, which said it would be looked into. It has taken

thank my colleague, Deputy Seamus Healy, for bringing forward this important motion on housing emergency measures in the public interest. I acknowledge the inclusion in this motion of the defective concrete crisis, which many Opposition parties have disappointingly failed to include in their previous housing motions. Support from … that this would be the case. There are many examples of how the scheme is unworkable. Take the example of two semi-detached houses located adjacent to each other. One family gets to have their house remediated because it has the funds to do so. They go into

support of the revised national planning framework. I welcome the revision. It also acknowledges the changed context of the need to accelerate housing construction. It is important to emphasise the equal importance of infrastructure and all the associated services that need to be delivered. The revised framework represents … come to this debate with a dual perspective, namely as a Member of Dáil Éireann but also, like many colleagues in the House, as a former county councillor who was involved in the formation of a county development plan. Such plans, for anyone who is new to politics

context of rising prices businesses push up the cost because they know they can do so. We can see this in housing and basic grocery foods. In what is likely to be another situation of rising costs for working people, the Irish Government has to look … intervene and keep costs low and how we can support employment. One of the areas is housing. Unfortunately, the Government's housing policy, just like its wider economic policy, has left us more vulnerable than we should be to this economic catastrophe that is hitting. The over-reliance

unfortunate phenomenon in recent years has been the conflation in people's minds of prefabricated housing and modular housing. High-quality modular housing is a permanent housing solution. Prefabricated models like the prefabs provided for Ukrainian refugees were expensive and had a poor BER rating of C. These … modern modular housing units are permanent solutions and are extremely energy efficient. By setting up a supply and manufacturing line, it is possible to manufacture houses every day of the week for 12 months of the year. This is the beauty of this approach. One of these homes

Deputy Máire Devine asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider introducing legislation similar to the United Kingdom’s Awaab’s Law, which sets legal time limits for the remediation of serious health hazards such as damp and mould in social housing … will respond to the findings of the recent Trinity College Dublin and the Liberties Community Project ‘Respiratory Health Among Residents of Oliver Bond House’ report which identified rates of asthma among the Oliver Bond House population 2.4 times higher than among individuals with addresses in the same vicinity

Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he is taking to increase housing supply in Kilkenny, including social housing and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20718/25

Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the measures he is taking to increase housing supply in Carlow, including social housing and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20719/25

Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the measures he is taking to increase housing supply in Wexford, including social housing and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18115/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost per unit of new-build social housing delivered in 2024, by SHIP construction, SHIP turnkey, CALF construction (including full cost and CALF cost), CALF turnkey (including full cost and CALF cost … construction, CAS turnkey, Local Authority Part V, AHB Part V, acquisition, Affordable Housing Fund (including full cost and AHF cost), Cost Rental Equity Loan (including full cost and CREL cost), and the costs for social housing acquisition, in tabular form. [15020/25

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total Exchequer expenditure on social housing acquisitions in 2024, by local authority area, acquisition schemes, that is, tenant-in-situ, the Housing First scheme, vacant acquisitions, and buy and renew; and number of units

Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the farm succession scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; whether his Department has considered the impact that passing on farmland and properties to farmers … children has on access to housing schemes such as the housing adaptation grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19129/25

Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to Uisce Éireann refusing to take in charge housing developments with developer-provided water service infrastructure thereby causing many problems for homeowners; what plans he has in place to address this issue … aware how many housing developments across the country are impacted by this; and, if so, if he will provide a breakdown on a local authority basis, in tabular form. [19275/25

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions his Department is taking to ensure that water and wastewater infrastructure can support the delivery of housing, particularly in the greater Dublin area where key projects face delays; if he will review whether … current mandate and funding model for Uisce Éireann are fit for purpose in meeting housing and infrastructure needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19312/25

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 178 of 2 April 2025, the amount of funding released in the first quarter of 2023, 2024 and 2025 to local authorities for the purchase or construction of social housing … units by approved housing bodies, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19336/25

Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will issue a circular to local authorities around updating a social housing applicant’s housing need in line with recommendations from medical professionals, particularly with regard to individuals with developmental disorders who may need

Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a person who has been approved for remediation works on their house under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme may elect to have the house rebuilt using a modular model which would resemble the existing

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in County Kerry (details supplied); the reason affordable housing has not been made available to persons in Kerry before

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if legislation is in place for a Government housing body to take over unfinished ghost estates after a certain period and to complete them as finished housing units for the people; and if he will make

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Killarney, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Killarney public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Tralee, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Tralee public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Listowel, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Listowel public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Dingle, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Dingle public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Killorglin, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Killorglin public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Kenmare, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Kenmare public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Castleisland, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Castleisland public

Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will examine the case of a family (details supplied) who are living in overcrowded accommodation, who are being removed from the housing list for being over the income limit, but have been turned … down for an affordable housing scheme due to insufficient income; if he will propose a solution for this family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20170/25

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when affordable housing units for sale, will be made available to the general public in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, where there is huge demand; the reason affordable housing has not been made available to the Cahersiveen public

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to review the housing assistance payment scheme in light of recent reports of a shortfall in the number of housing units available within it; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when additional funding will be allocated to local authorities for the housing aid and housing adaptation grants given that some local authorities have already closed some of these grants to new applicants. [20621/25