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This issue is critical, particularly in the context of our need to deliver housing across the State. If we are to deliver homes, we must ensure that we have in place critical energy infrastructure and water and wastewater infrastructure. The first question the person in charge of every … State agency should be asking every morning is what is he or she doing to help to address the housing crisis. If those people are not asking that question, their vision is clearly wrong and perhaps they are in the wrong job. I can cite many examples

very serious and emotive issue. It matters to an awful lot of people. Sometimes there are debates when the political charges across the House add value but I was disappointed by Deputy Alan Kelly a short while ago. I was quite surprised by his character … should just get rid of it. I have never seen any group in society segregated according to gender. There are no male-only housing estates. I have yet to see one. There is no female-only housing estate. There

measures the Government announced over the past 12 months, which have laid the foundations for significant movement and progress on the housing front. The Deputy forgot to say that the tenancies of the over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not be impacted … much more significant now than they would have been on landlords in terms of eviction. I make the wider point that the Housing Commission recommended that we reform the rent pressure zones, RPZs. That was a very clear recommendation from the Housing Commission. Yes, we are balancing

renters in terms of improvements. Listening to him, it is easy to understand why people feel such despair about housing. The Government is out of ideas. We need a radical reset on housing and this Government just will not deliver that because that would mean admitting failure … legislation will drive them even higher. The Taoiseach can criticise the Social Democrats all he likes with his usual, baseless attacks, but the housing disaster is getting worse on his watch. It does not have to be like this. He could take radical action and prioritise renters

protects renters much more effectively than anything that has gone before this legislation. The catalyst for this was the recommendation by the Housing Commission for the reform of the rent pressure zones because they were a temporary, ad hoc solution. They were never going to sustain. We needed … need investment down the line. We cannot provide the €20 billion per annum. We are doing about €9 billion per annum on housing. The Department of Finance says we need €20 billion between public and private to get 50,000 to 60,000 houses per year. That

operation on establishing a loan to Ukraine and, second, to move today's motion seeking the prior approval of same from both Houses of the Oireachtas. This is in line with Article 29.4.7° of Bunreacht na hÉireann, which outlines that the State may exercise the options or discretions … operation applies, but also that the agreement to any such decision, regulation or Act shall be subject to the prior approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas. By opting to participate in enhanced co-operation on the loan to Ukraine, Ireland will provide a clear signal

thank the Deputy for her question. Before giving the specifics, I will outline the method by which we organise refuge spaces and safe houses. It is through Cuan, collaborating with various stakeholders. The Deputy will be aware that Cuan collaborates with domestic violence services, approved housing bodies … Department of housing and local authorities to facilitate local action and support service development and the delivery of safe accommodation and ancillary services. Currently, the number of safe accommodation spaces nationwide, including refuges and safe homes, stands at 232. I am informed by Cuan that

alternative solution. Where are they getting their supply from? One in three euro of capital funding in this State is earmarked for housing and housing delivery. We hear calls from Opposition parties for more funding to go into it, but they will never say what they are going … from schools, roads or healthcare? That is never said. It is just spend more, spend more. Record funding is going in to housing. The reason, by the way, that we have record funding is our stewardship of the economy as well. Simply spending more is never the answer

thank the Deputy. He will be aware that dereliction is front and centre of what I am trying to tackle as Minister for housing. The introduction of a derelict property tax, DPT, was announced in budget 2026 and the collection of this new tax will be the responsibility … Revenue Commissioners, as set out in action 4.1 of the Government's new national housing strategy, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. This tax will replace the derelict sites levy currently operated by the local authorities under Part III of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, whereby the levy is imposed

They do not. I have spoken to them. Their officials were in front of the housing committee even before Deputy Browne was the Minister and told us they do not have the staff or resources. What the Minister is saying here now is different. Some €26 million … million in 2025 and it will go up by at least the same amount again in 2026. That means €32 million regarding houses in addition to all the others that are not on the derelict sites register. The Minister is letting those concerned get away with daylight robbery

role for the private sector in developing wastewater treatment plants. This obviously means there will be a huge increase in the number of houses and, more importantly, there will be more affordable houses brought through to fruition. I fully understand there will be strict regulations and compliance required … infrastructure? There are also over 400 sites in Ireland where Uisce Éireann specifications were previously not met and now the owners of these houses are being left to fend for themselves. Can the Minister reassure us that this situation will not be repeated, as the only ones

with them. They may involve multiple agencies. However, we have ensured that people on lower incomes are getting 100% of the housing adaptation grant. That was 90% under the old scheme. The housing adaptation grant for disabled people has been increased to €40,000. The housing

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention had been drawn to his Department’s involvement in the production of the housing-related video published by an organisation (details supplied) prior to speaking to the Oireachtas housing committee on the matter

leis an Aire. The Minister has still not clarified when he first knew of the video. Could he clarify that, please? At the housing committee when I asked him directly about it, he set out four times that the Department of housing did not have any involvement … video. He repeated that three times. Can the Minister clarify now and make a statement that the Department of housing was involved in the video and was aware of it? I will ask the Minister very clearly: when did he first become aware this video was being produced

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow for modular housing and low-cost sites, to address the urgent housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4551/26

undress and produce nudified images is dehumanising, degrading and disgusting. There absolutely is an onus on all of us in the House - as the Deputy rightly says, it is not a party political issue - to come together to respond. I commit today that the Government absolutely will engage … Bill. My colleagues Deputies Boland, Butterly and Keogh are also producing a Bill on this issue. I am sure all parties in the House are considering how best to grapple with it. I want to say a couple of things on the record of the House

services and the men and women who go out to do their jobs should be commended. I am concerned by comments in this House that suggested that such a move would be to weaponise the prison officers. That is an extraordinary statement. Prison officers work under incredibly difficult … relation to the sex-for-rent issue, I welcome the change. It is quite extraordinary that we live in a society where the housing crisis has reached a stage where women feel they have to resort to this. We are all familiar with the queues of people looking

purpose of benefiting individuals who need legislative change, a miscellaneous provisions Bill is of huge assistance to me. Others in this House if they become Ministers in the future will become aware that. The real benefit of a miscellaneous provisions Bill is that we know that … Criminal Evidence Act is unacceptable and needs to be changed. At present something is happening that was never the legislative intention of this House. What is happening is that counselling notes are being provided virtually on an ad hoc basis to the defence in criminal proceedings. That

thank Deputy O'Hara for raising this important matter and providing me with an opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. It is important to point out that under section 30 of the Planning and Development … result in 3,429 new homes across the country. A compulsory purchase order, CPO, activation programme was also launched by the Department of housing in April 2023. The programme supports a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to the reuse of vacant and derelict properties. It also

thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to give an update on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. As I previously stated, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, the Minister with responsibility … government approach. Crucially, these measures are designed not only to incentivise action but to ensure accountability. Furthermore, the new recently published national housing action plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, builds on existing measures and programmes to tackle dereliction. Other specific actions beyond the derelict property tax announced

move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the River Boyne Task Force Bill to the House. The Bill seeks to establish a committee of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly to serve as a River Boyne task force with … intervention or innovation but it can make a contribution. This is why I am proposing this Bill and I urge everyone in the House to support its passage. I commend the Bill to the House

thank the Labour Party and colleagues on all sides of the House who made really important contributions. It is has been a very fair and balanced debate on the pros and cons, as there always are with these matters, of the proposals before the House … Department receiving over 8,000 responses to the public consultation. The final report of the statutory review will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Work is also being undertaken across Government to inform and support the remote working policy, including the development of a national

There are 3,000 people on the scheme. I am one of them. Some 300 houses have been built and another 300 are going through that process. At this rate, it will be 150 years before we get 10,000 houses done and we have … been clearly indicated that there are serious structural dangers with the scheme's design. Will the Taoiseach tell the Minister for housing to look at these test cases? I just need to the Minister to look at these test cases. That is what I need to move forward

State to court, through the European courts, as a result of its failure in the Gaoth Dobhair sewage scheme. It connected 50 houses, and then it said there were no plans to do the rest of the scheme. It is simply unacceptable. Social housing, private housing, businesses

Duagh, where this system has to be upgraded in a hurry. It is also affecting the rights of people to build and construct housing and be close to their own villages. Over the past 20 or 25 years in particular, there has been an emphasis from planners … make it more difficult to live in one-off houses and to cluster them in villages. In places like Fenit and Abbeydorney, you cannot build more than two houses together because the wastewater treatment system is not even in place. There have been proposals to construct facilities which

expected that full responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 will be transferred from the Department of Justice to the Department of Housing; if the Minister will commit to have this transfer completed and a regulator in place in the coming weeks; and if he will make

Home Affairs and Migration the status of the proposed transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 to the Department of Housing, as committed to in the Programme for Government; the timeline for completion of the transfer; and the obstacles that can prevent its implementation. [73917/26

Migration the status of the proposed transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 from his Department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the actions taken to date to facilitate this transfer; and the timeline for its completion. [73924/26

legislative and administrative steps that remain outstanding before the transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage can take place. [73925/26

formal transfer of functions order to move responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 from his Department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, following the enactment of enabling provisions in the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026; and if he will

Home Affairs and Migration the date on which responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 will be transferred to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as committed to in the Programme for Government; the steps that remain outstanding before the transfer of functions order

status of the transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 from the Department of Justice to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and to provide a timeline for the completion the transfer. [73967/26

Migration the timeframe for the transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act from the Department of Justice to the Department of Housing; the reasons for any delay in implementing this transfer following the enactment of the necessary legislation; and the progress made to date in this

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on the movement of responsibility of the MUDS Act to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. [74190/26

Home Affairs and Migration when responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 will be transferred from his Department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. [74127/26

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration when responsibility for Multi-Unit Developments will transfer from his department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, especially given concerns about the urgent need for this (details supplied). [74099/26

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration when the transfer of responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be completed, as committed to in the Programme for Government; the reason for the continued delay despite the enactment

asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the timeline for the transfer of responsibility from his Department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for all aspects of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. [74731/26

position regarding the transfer of the responsibility for the Multi-Unit Developments (MUD) Act 2011 from his Department to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. [74696/26

Home Affairs and Migration the reason for the delay in transferring responsibility for the Multiple Unit Development Act 2011 to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and given the urgent need for reform of this area, to give a commitment to conclude the transfer

Gaeltacht the targeted supports available to communities experiencing rapid population growth where community facilities and social infrastructure have not kept pace with housing and population growth. [73495/26

asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide an update regarding the Síol funding application for Oliver Bond House in Dublin 8. [74414/26

Schools) Bill 2026, introduced by Deputy Eoghan Kenny, including whether the Government intends to support the progression of the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas and the anticipated timeframe for its consideration at Committee Stage. [71648/26

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which he has allocated the €2 billion allocated to his Department under the ICNF; the amount that has been spent to date; the amount that has been allocated to date; and the amount

Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a schedule of EU Presidency events being hosted by his Department broken down by name of the event, location, date, State agencies or other departments involved in the organising of the event; and cost

Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the Government’s plans for the wind-down of the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme; the number of participants whose entitlement under the scheme is due to expire in each of the next

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the guidance he is providing to local authorities to assess planning applications that may be made by persons seeking to register properties with the short-term letting register. [71645/26

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department, the National Monuments Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, or an agency under his remit has assessed, or intends to assess, the suitability of High Island (Ardoileán), Claddaghduff, County Galway, for acquisition

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of approvals under the local authority home loan scheme for each local authority in 2024 and 2025 and to date in 2026; and the resources provided to each local authority under the local authority

Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the review of the 2006 wind energy development guidelines; and when new guidelines will be published. [71689/26