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often in this House you feel like you are making any progress at all, but I wish to congratulate the Minister of State on bringing forward this Bill. I know it is something which she and many of us in Fianna Fáil have been working on for some … time. I should probably also note the support of the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, when he was in the House. In August 2023, a number of people in the local Tidy Towns group in my area contacted me reporting the proliferation of these disposable or single-use vapes

when it could have been stopped. Instead, we got deflection. Fine Gael tried and failed to block a Sinn Féin motion in this House in 2019 mandating it to call “Stop.” We even had Phil Hogan, the then Commissioner, telling Irish farmers at one stage that beef … world that is being produced at the cost of the rainforests? It says a lot about the Government Members of this House. A former Member of this House, Eamon Ryan, tells us today that we should support this deal, all the while knowing that what they are actually

thank the Minister for the update but the information I have is that Liberty Street House will be out of staff by mid-January and is currently not recruiting. I understand it has not replaced the staff who have left, been redeployed or have retired. I want … Minister to be right, and I hope she is right, in what she has just said here. Liberty Street House has been operating very successfully for the last two decades in providing really vital services for young people who are at risk of homelessness. It is said

have two worries on foot of the Minister's comments. She is saying that the services are being integrated. Is Liberty Street House being closed down? Liberty Street House provides a service to young people who are at risk of homelessness and who enter homelessness. I am looking … worried, in light of what is being proposed now, that Tusla is going down a different road. We need to save Liberty Street House

centres are taking up almost one third of Ireland's energy. The surge in energy demand from data centres has already led to housing not being delivered. One such example was in Portlaoise, where multiple families were told they could not move into their homes because an energy … connection simply was not available. Similarly, investments that were intended for housing have, instead, been diverted to data centres because there is a first-come, first-served approach. That has to change. The energy regulator must be given the power to deal with that and to prioritise major

which evaporated into thin air as soon as the polling stations closed. Today's ESRI report lays bare your continued abject failure on housing. Just 35,000 homes have been delivered this year and 36,000 next year. This is far short … homes needed each year. This Government's handling of the housing crisis has been an unmitigated disaster. This failure means that the dreams of home ownership of tens of thousands of people have been crushed. It has resulted in thousands more families and children becoming homeless. This

that the 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation, those who are threatened with homelessness or people who find themselves in crisis housing circumstances. In particular, I refer here to the 5,274 children living in emergency accommodation, 50% of whom are spending their second Christmas … experiencing domestic violence and who are terrified of their partners but who have nowhere to go because there are no three-bedroom houses available. What is the Government going to do about these people? Some 32% of those who are homeless are homeless because they were evicted from

glad there is an acknowledgement regarding three-bedroom units. We warned the Government about this. The demand for social housing was not taking account of people who are on transfer lists, HAP and RAS. It previously understated the extent of family homelessness or the number of people … danger of it. We need to address that. The €100 million to which the Tánaiste referred represents 200 houses in Dublin. That number would only house a fraction of the number of families who are homeless and who need to get out of homeless accommodation. The amount being

will benefit people in the Deputy's constituency and mine who want to build apartments which will be made available to approved housing bodies and which will take people off the housing lists. I accept we have lots more to do, but it is not question of whether … should spend money on our national security or spend money on housing. This is a wealthy country which has an ability and obligation to do both. I will finish on a note of harmony. The issue relating to three-and four-bedroom homes is a legitimate

query. Has there been a change to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS? I have been contacted by a few people who bought a house and they wanted to sell it. They went through all the procedures 100% correctly, gave proper notice and everything. It appears to be happening … eight or ten months. It has gone on for a year and now the council will not answer emails. The owner of the house does not know what is happening because they wanted to sell their house and the council will not respond to them, which

Finance Bill a specific issue in relation to rental properties and their availability in Donegal. I undertook to engage with the Minister for housing on that. I sent him the information from our discussion and I will be engaging with him in January. I am happy to talk … Deputy is aware, the overall Government response to problems associated with defective concrete blocks is led by my colleague, the Minister for housing. His Department is engaging with impacted households and relevant stakeholders and administering financial supports to help affected homeowners. The Department of housing has engaged with

aware that there have been reports on housing, viability, financing and so forth and that there has been research in the area; that was not my question. My question was on the tax measures that were introduced by Government and by the Minister's predecessor as Minister … been done in the past with similar measures. In other countries when there are such massive public subsidies put into different types of housing, it is linked specifically to affordability - it makes housing more affordable. The Government decided not to do that. One of the main reports

have served my first year as a TD for Dublin South-West and to work with Deputies on all sides of the House in trying to bring about a better Ireland. I know everyone here is doing it in good faith. It is a privilege … carry out biometric analysis, subject to a code of practice to be drawn up by the Garda Commissioner and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. This would involve the automated retrospective searching of documents, footage and images that the Garda has obtained in the course

have taken the time to examine it carefully, to read the report and compare it directly with what is now before the House. On the basis of that research, one thing is absolutely clear. The new and - let us be clear - intrusive elements of this Bill have … unnoticed. We will ask how powers affecting rights were normalised without debate and how trust was eroded so quietly. No one in this House wants to see victims of crime let down, nor do we want to slow down legislation for the sake

Once again, I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter, which I am taking behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. I urge the Deputy to provide those details on behalf of his constituents to the Minister and the Department. Supporting households … down in 2026. This includes acquisitions to support exits from homelessness and tenancy sustainment via the tenant in situ scheme. The Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, is committed to supporting and funding the acquisition of properties with tenants in situ, where all other options and measures to prevent

rights other people enjoy. A decade on from marriage equality it is really frustrating that the work has not been done in these Houses and Government Departments to iron out the detail of the law to provide pathways to parentage for same sex couples. Also, as was said … clear timeline on the legislation, when it will be published, when it is intended for it to be taken through the Houses and ultimately commenced. That is the key because sometimes we pass laws and never commence them, as we are seeing with

Elaine Gunn and the other members of the management board for their support and wise counsel throughout the year. I thank my fellow Houses of the Oireachtas Commission members across the Houses of the Seanad and the Dáil. I would like to thank all the staff … Wexford offices who have been a huge support to me for the past year and always. To all the Members of this House, I wish a very happy Christmas. I thank them very much for the honour of being their Ceann Comhairle and for the co-operation throughout

perspective, I believe the approach is absolutely counterproductive. From a wider political and social perspective, it is damaging. Those of us in this House who are serious about building a progressive-left republican alternative in this country must also be serious about unity, common citizenship, mutual respect … They see opposition not just to hunting but also to other rural pursuits, and in this regard they refer to farming, one-off housing and the social fabric of their communities. Whether Members agree with that assessment or not, it cannot be ignored. Sinn Féin is a party

behalf of the Social Democrats, I thank all of the staff in the Houses and wish them all and Members a very happy Christmas. The most shameful legacy of this Government is its failure to get to grips with homelessness. Every month, the homeless figures are announced … full might of the State at its disposal, it just chooses not to do enough about it. It is the Government's housing policies that have put these children and their families in emergency accommodation and those same housing policies will ensure that more children and families join

this legislation to appear, given there had been approval for the heads of the Bill and for it to come to the House for a Second Stage debate. Why has the Bill shrunk so dramatically in that time period? That is not really clear from what has been … regulation process now, because the earlier we start the better. If we do the two processes - the consideration of the Bill in this House and in the other House, and the engagement with the European authorities - at the same time, that will allow us to enjoy the important

appreciate the opportunity to address the House on what is an important matter. I thank the Deputies for seeking the opportunity for statements on fishing opportunities in 2026. I welcome the timely opportunity to discuss the concerns affecting the fisheries and seafood sector. I welcome the contributions … nephrops or Dublin Bay prawns as they are known. We were aware of these concerns for some time as were many in this House because we had a discussion here and at the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs about this impending scientific advice

constituents. I thank all the Deputies for their contributions to the debates on the Bill as it has proceeded through the House. The work that the Credit Review office has done since it was established in 2010 has given valuable assistance to viable SMEs and farm businesses … than earlier. This has allowed other work to be undertaken that is more time sensitive. I thank the officials and TDs in this House for their co-operation this evening. The Bill places the Credit Review service on a firm statutory footing in order that it can continue

holidays and put the VCR under the pillowcase, pull the curtains and hope that no one would break into their house. How murky things have become since then, with drug dealing and the crime that goes hand-in-hand with it now having permeated everywhere. I have listened … heard some years ago at a joint policing committee. People were pushing for what is called "mini CAB". In every single village and housing estate, there is some boyo with a fancy car in the driveway. He will have two or three holidays and watches like we have

concerns the changeover of buildings to allow a pub or whatever to be made into a residential property. Anything that will help with housing supply is a good thing. Anything that will give a roof over somebody's head is a good thing. We should welcome that people … time within which people must have compliance with planning or if there is a non-compliance order. There are chimneys in old houses that cracked, were taken down and then slates were put up. That is a normal thing people did, using cop on as I would call

backyard developments. By the end of the Christmas recess, it will be nearly a year since we heard that announcement. One-off houses in rural Ireland can benefit if we allow log cabins and modular homes to be built not just in backyard developments. They are also … affordable houses out there for young people in rural Ireland whom I speak to. I could give numerous examples of log cabins and modular homes across north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny that are at threat of enforcement proceedings because they do not have planning permission. Enforcement should

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the child homelessness strategy; when it will be published; and the additional funding for homeless prevention that will be allocated for 2027. [72212/26

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the review of HAP rates; and if changes will be made to the rates or levels of discretion in 2026. [72211/26

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of staffing sanction requests approved by his Department for Kildare, Tipperary, Clare and Leitrim County Councils in the period 1 June 2023 to 1 October 2026, in tabular form. [72141/26

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update and timeline for each stage of the Regeneration Projects in Galway, in tabular form. [72138/26

Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on correspondence (details supplied). [72121/26

Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to consider inserting an exceptional circumstance clause into the vacant property refurbishment grant scheme to ensure that individuals who experience unforeseen circumstances are not precluded from receiving the grant; and if he will make

Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether motions passed and agreed by elected members of local authorities who opposed wind farm or solar farm developments and seeking moratoriums on future developments can be taken into account by planning authorities

Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will consider introducing a moratorium on the approval of new solar farm developments pending the publication of updated national solar farm planning guidelines; and whether such moratoriums or prohibitions are legally possible. [72269/26

Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if targets have been established for the number of vacant residential properties to be returned to use for each year from 2026 to 2030; if so, to provide those targets, by local authority, in tabular form

Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actual and projected number of residential dwellings and population for each local authority for 2020, 2025 and 2030 under the assumptions used for national and regional planning; and the resulting number of dwellings

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans in place to recognise the role of allotments and community gardens given it is 100 years since allotments were legislated for in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72454/26

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on the timeframe for when guidance to local authorities on the provision of allotments and community gardens will be provided, given the original date was for the guidance

Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has assessed the capacity of local authority building control sections to process the anticipated surge in certificates of compliance on completion in advance of the 31 December 2026 deadline for the development contribution waiver

Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department will extend the 31 December 2026 completion deadline to 31 December 2027 for development levy waiver for one off rural developments already substantially progressed; and if he will make a statement

Collins asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the engagement that has taken place with South Dublin County Council concerning the housing, homelessness, community service and other local impacts associated with residents moving from the Citywest Hotel and convention centre following the granting of international protection

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration when the contract for emergency accommodation to house Ukrainian refugees (details supplied) will conclude. [72119/26

Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the full breakdown of the number of different roles in Chamber House and Tymon CDNTs, including the number of positions that are filled and not filled, respectively, and to include comparative figures from

Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the status of the provision of a new court house in Portlaoise; the stage is it currently at; and the progress made to date. [70384/26

school year is understood to be 261 pupils; and the consideration that has been given to projected enrolment, ongoing housing development and the impact of significantly increased class sizes on pupils’ educational experience and wellbeing. [69832/26

Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of adults and children accommodated in emergency accommodation under each local authority area. [69815/26

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the overall cost of the ICT system for stock audits. [69848/26

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm the amount his Department spent on homelessness prevention in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69828/26

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to share the findings of the more than 60 inspections of domestic wastewater treatment systems carried out by Wexford County Council in the Lady's Island Lake catchment area under the National Inspection Plan; the number

Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Scheme Bill 2024; and when he expects the Bill to be published. [69912/26

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the changes that have been made to Ireland's building standards, building regulations, inspection regimes and compliance mechanisms arising from, or in response to, European Union infringement proceedings and litigation concerning the State's implementation