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attacks on the streets of my home city of Cork. This behaviour is repulsive and should be roundly condemned by all in this House. No one should walk our streets in fear, no matter who they are. One of the best things this Government could do to address … curve. I must call out the nonsense we hear when we raise trans issues, particularly from Deputies in certain quarters of this House, on the Independent Ireland benches

will start with my disappointment that people on that side of the House would turn around and say that people on this side of the House are far right or far left. I am a father. I have been heckled

feel, being part of me. If Members do not agree with it, that is their problem. Remember this: I went around to many houses during the election. I went to one house and a person opened the door. They were identifying as a fox. Did I respect them

some of the worst instincts in our otherwise welcoming society. The Government has allowed dangerous rhetoric to obscure its own failures on housing and infrastructure. It is introducing new immigration policies without evidence despite ample evidence of their potential harm to migrant communities in Ireland. We all hear … prejudice against immigrants, people of colour and anyone who looks different. We see this in our own communities. We have seen buildings housing asylum seekers and refugees being set alight, including an appalling arson attack in Drogheda, and a man killed last year, Josip Strok, while speaking

their car. There is, and has been a growing, atmosphere, largely fuelled by elements within society that are far removed from this House, let us be honest, who are seeking to gain electoral and popular traction in respect of their views. The responsibility of this House

with legacy, and I compliment Deputy Smith on his work in this area in particular. I note the publication this week by the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee around legacy. One of the more interesting recommendations was that Ireland needs to do more with regard … call for increased and accelerated action on, in particular, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. That has been raised many times in this House and it needs to fall under the ambit of the legacy issues as well. What engagement has the Taoiseach had with the Prime Minister

information of the House, Committee Stage of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 is starting at 3.30 p.m. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, will come in after I have spoken. Officials will take note of matters raised by all Deputies here and we will respond … across Ireland with energy costs and to building a clean energy future. I am looking forward to hearing contributions from Deputies across the House. The critical area for us in relation to grid is delivery on the capital programme. This will be the largest investment the State

target the credits more effectively. Either the Government could not do it or it would not. As I have said before in this House, if we are talking about energy costs we need to talk about the energy companies themselves as well, and the profiteering and the outright … competitive but these companies are carrying on more like cartels, like an oligarchy. As I have called for again in this House, the Minister needs to start looking

homes, high energy costs and high carbon emissions long into the future with the headline that inflation figures do not even account for housing costs. They are going up too, dramatically in some cases. If you are a Dublin City Council tenant or a HAP tenant … April and the plan is to roll this out across the country. The Government knows that too but it does not care. After housing costs, 57% of HAP tenants and 43% of local authority tenants are already living below the poverty line, as are a third of private

middle-income households who are facing another long cold winter. I want the Minister of State to address the fact the housing aid for older people grant cannot be given to people to replace a gas boiler. I am not sure if it was the Department officials … years old and a cancer patient. She is living alone and is on non-contributory pension. She has a 20 year-old house. Her gas boiler has stopped working. She cannot get the €3,000 grant from the council to replace it. She cannot get it from

turned full circle? It is not that long ago that we heard it. We will now see people go cold in their houses this year. I have been trying to figure out what is wrong. The Government has run out of ideas. The Minister's Department has absolutely … prices by 8%. The Government is a year behind. I am in construction. The Department is looking at the SEAI grants and retrofitting houses. It takes so long for it to process people's applications that the costs have gone up by 30%. That is what is wrong

with the Minister and it is something I only became aware of in the past couple of days. It is a document on housing densities entitled Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities. My understanding is that at least two local authorities, and thankfully they … well. This village has everything going for it but it has been hampered for the past 15 years with no growth and housing land dezoned. We are being told the treatment plant will not be built for at least seven years. Unless we crack this wastewater and Irish

There are three issues I wish to raise in regard to housing. The first is homelessness; something we see across the length and breadth of the country, particularly in urban areas. I come from a rural part of the country, Sligo–Leitrim. We have a homelessness crisis … serious issue. I know builders who want to build and do not have that. The final issue I want to raise is rural housing. A lot of my constituency is rural. We saw the report from the GAA recently across the whole western seaboard where the population

question or, indeed, to the process of material alterations to development plans that the Minister has requested and with respect to the new housing targets and zoning requirements would be very useful. It is interesting that there is a Dáil debate and, again, this is a new procedure … address is about when he wrote to the local authorities at the very end of July and set out both the new housing needs demand assessment targets as well as the increased 50% headroom he is requesting. I am interested to know whether, in any way, what

Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR. I believe this is wrong and is actually stifling development in some areas. There is a housing development on the Killala Road in Ballina that was not allowed to proceed as a result of the housing, or population, ceiling that was built

provided, schools will be built and bus routes will actually be planned on the map, ready to go with the NTA, before any housing construction commences. We had a situation where €4 million was spent redeveloping Kishoge train station because it never opened in 2009 as was planned … place ended up being developed instead. This was a complete waste of taxpayers' money, whereas if they had made sure that no house could be built until the train station was open, I guarantee that train station would have been opened straight away

agus ar an diongbháilteacht atá léirithe agaibh chun bhur dtír a chosaint ar an ionróir. President Zelenskyy, you are most welcome to Leinster House – our national Parliament. I would also like to welcome the First Lady. Mme Zelenska is a woman who has become a symbol of Ukrainian … your courage and the strength of your people lead to a just and lasting peace. I now invite you to address both Houses of the Oireachtas

that there are building defects or there are issues within their development. Seventy-three families will be moved out of these brand new houses they moved into less than six months ago. They have paid upwards of €500,000 for these houses. They are being remediated

flawed process whereby the chartered engineers they must hire to assess their homes conclude that their homes require demolition, only for the Housing Agency to overturn those decisions and decide, without ever seeing a house, that it does not need to be demolished. Appeals that were lodged over

should have been safe and secure but instead are crumbling through no fault of the owners. Meath County Council has engaged with the Housing Agency under section 5 of the 2022 Act. Testing has been carried out and the results confirm that, as feared, defective blocks are present … same scale but they are present in County Meath. The council has submitted a formal request for inclusion. The Housing Agency completed its investigations earlier this year. Following that, the agency submitted its letter of recommendation to the Department. The evidence is there and the need is urgent

hour shifts, that is 24-hour continuous duty periods. As many have said before, this is not in a person's house. This is people being accommodated because they are at work. They need to be ready to launch at any time. We know the danger … disgrace. We need to see action straight away. I think it is the first time I have said this in the House but I do not have words. I will finish by thanking those in the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service and Dundalk Sub Aqua Search

face-to-face engagement with the relevant Ministers to make sure that, as we develop our policy priorities, the elected representatives in this House have their voices heard clearly on the agenda. Again, I encourage those who perhaps are not in this House to make sure their voices

Senator Noonan and I have raised the environmental damage at Lady's Island Lake on several occasions in both Houses. I welcome the recent announcement of funding by the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, for Wexford County Council to help tackle the issue. What is the Minister

Island Lake within the framework and mechanisms of the Water Action Plan 2024. The recent announcement of funding by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support this work aims to support the development of Lady's Island Lake sustainable farming and community's water quality … That is the very specific approach the Deputy is talking about. Separate from that, my Department is working closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to develop Ireland's next nitrates action programme, which is due to apply from January 2026, with the objective

came up time and time again on the doors in Kildare North was the lack of social infrastructure keeping pace with the new houses being built. I am sure the Tánaiste has experienced this as well in his own constituency, the neighbouring constituency of Wicklow. What I would … just based on the census but particularly on cases where we know there are planning applications going through for 500 or 600 houses in locations, to ensure that we have the places at primary and secondary school

Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when a response to representations will be issued (details supplied). [23187/26

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to expand the data provided in the monthly homelessness reports to include breakdowns of the number of children living in emergency accommodation, by age categories; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of funding drawn down by each local authority over the past four years for the ready to build (serviced sites for new homes) scheme under the Croí Cónaithe towns fund, in tabular form

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount funding allocated each year since 2023 to the serviced ready to build (serviced sites for new homes) scheme under the croí cónaithe towns fund, in tabular form; and if he will make

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average length of time it took SHIP construction projects to complete the four-stage approval process for those projects that were delivered in 2025; and the breakdown of the average length of time

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on any proposed legislation or regulatory changes to allow for the use of cabins or modular units in back gardens for residential purposes; the expected timeline for bringing forward such measures

Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Ireland's progress under the Nature Restoration Law. [23391/26

Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a schedule of the legal costs incurred by An Coimiúsín Pleanála (ACP) in 2024, 2025 and to-date in 2026; the individuals amount paid out to solicitors and barristers representing

Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount paid out by An Coimiúsín Pleanála (ACP) in legal costs to named solicitors and barristers concerning High Court judicial review cases ACP conceded in 2024, 2025 and to-date in 2026; and the name

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a breakdown of the total amount of local authority home loan applications, by local authority; and the number of successful applications, in tabular form. [23426/26

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a breakdown of the total amounts of units retrofitted, by local authority area, for each of the past five years. [23427/26

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the progress of the regeneration of Noonan Road, Cork, and surrounding streets. [23429/26

Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the remedies or supports available in the case of a person who experiences frequent interruptions to their mains water supply due to topography and low pressure, as verified by Uisce Éireann, but who is simultaneously ineligible

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the eligibility population threshold for towns applying under the newly announced Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund; to confirm whether the threshold is 10,000, 9,000, or another figure; the basis for the threshold

Home Affairs and Migration if he will address an issue with an IRP which is impacting a person’s ability to avail of housing (details supplied). [23189/26

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the housing incentives being put in place to ensure that the Irish language is protected and flourishes in County Kerry going forward; the steps being taken to ensure Irish speakers continue to live, work

Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are resourced efficiently to process Section 5 planning applications as part of the vacant property refurbishment grant to ensure that the statutory four weeks

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No.1025 of 18 March 2026, if he intends to introduce a measure to count the number of build-to-rent apartments that are being built; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether S.I. No. 166/2007 - Local Government (Business Improvement Districts Ratepayer Plebiscite) Regulations 2007 remains in force and applicable within the areas that were previously under the jurisdiction of those bodies; and if the Regulations continue

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding the number of employees that were employed in his Department at the end of December 2025, broken down by grade, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of employees in each of the agencies under his Department's remit at the end of December 2025, broken down by grade, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the exact date by which the new vacant above the shop grant will be operational; when local authorities will begin accepting applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22909/26

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when updated guidance, circulars and operational instructions will issue to local authorities regarding the administration of the vacant above the shop grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22910/26

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will consider extending the vacant above the shop grant to include conversion or refurbishment of vacant rear-of-property or back-of-site areas, where such spaces are structurally connected to commercial premises

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will clarify whether properties that include both above-the-shop areas and rear can qualify for full grant support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22912/26