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Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to hold a referendum and legislate for a constitutional right to housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53899/25

Government is simply saying we are maintaining and increasing public investment in housing from the State, the largest actor in housing right now, while also creating the conditions to facilitate far greater private sector investment in house building and apartment building in particular, which needs to increase

indeed there are many projects right across Cork North-West that are at an advanced stage of development. Fingers crossed that with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and O'Sullivan, we will see many more projects opened in the coming years … very large and a very diverse county and geographically it is significant. It is important to offer that option of affordable housing right across constituencies - we have five constituencies in Cork - and in such a big geographical area and also that we continue to offer affordable housing

just one report, it produced two. There is no comment of course on the recommendations to hold a referendum to enshrine the right to housing in the Constitution. At least now we know the Government is not going to do it and the charade of the previous programme … those numbers right then he will be failing from the beginning. I again urge him to engage with the experts on this matter, so we do not end up having a row about the underlying numbers. With respect to section 4 and delivering supply, the housing delivery oversight

taking place. Since entering office, the Minister has employed this tough man image whereby he will virtue signal to people on the far right or people who have racist views that he is getting tough on immigration, including with his chartered flights and now with this Bill. That … case heretofore when he made a comment to the effect that a significant number of people in emergency accommodation have no right to housing in this country. I would not call it a dog whistle, because it was fairly blatant. Asylum seekers generally are abhorrently treated. Four hundred

genocide. Why did the gardaí also ask: "What do you think would happen to you if you were outside the White House right now?" Is this an international policing memo that is being sent, emanating from the likes of Germany and the White House

health. It is, and we have known about it for years. Ultimately it comes back to the failure to treat housing as a human right, particularly for renters. They have a right to live in housing of a decent standard, whether that is social housing or private rental … Government has to take responsibility. We are jeopardising the lives of our children and families growing up. People in social housing have an absolute right to a decent standard of home, just like anybody else. This and previous Governments have failed social housing tenants in this country

prevent homelessness occurring in the first place and that is why we are making rapid decisions to significantly increase the supply of housing right across the country. Until we can address the homelessness situation, however, we will continue to support the NGOs and the local authorities to provide

relevant legislation because it leaves it wide open. More generally, we cannot deal with water other than as a basic human right. Housing is the same, by the way. I pay tribute to former Deputy Joan Collins. She did tremendous work in respect of water as a human

course, the solution to all of this is to drive the provision of housing right through the different sectors - social, affordable and private. I welcome the new planning framework which will hopefully drive and allow local authorities to redraw their county development plans and deliver that housing

deal with that too. I believe we need to increase the income thresholds. There are many working people who cannot avail of social housing right now, who should be able to. The gap between a certain cohort and those who can afford to get mortgages

will probably rise. That is not counting the State investment on the current side with HAP and so on. The State investment in housing right now is well over €7 billion. We have the fourth largest construction activity in a European Union of 27 member states. There … have had a growing economy in the last decade and very significant population growth. We have an issue in meeting the housing demand. That is a crisis for the younger generation. We acknowledge that. I am very focused and the Government is very determined and very focused

significant reforms and an expansion of the remit of the Land Development Agency, which is to drive the supply of social and affordable housing right across Ireland. He has established An Coimisiún Pleanála, three-year planning permission extensions are being made in certain cases and he has revised … help to release thousands of units for long-term use. He has also extended the first homes scheme to 2027, agreed the new housing activation office to try to co-ordinate the supply of homes across local authorities and secured €750 million in additional funding for more social

that the Ministers are getting together and that a plan is going to be in place, but it takes time to build these houses and deliver these units. If the plan started this year, it would be a couple of years before we saw those units being turned … entire country. It was a pitiful amount. What these people are asking for is their right, as they all have a right to housing. Some of them are well capable of living independently. Some require round-the-clock care. It is that diverse a cohort. There

that will be provided between now and 2030? It does not exist. Where is the legislation that lays down in law the right to housing increasing every year between now and 2030? It does not exist. For all the serious issues in this State, the Government does … year after and the year after. Parties in this House, including so-called Opposition parties, will back the Government to the hilt in that. It is disgraceful. I will not be part of it. We were right to vote against the legislation last time. People called

recognition that a house is a home. In a report they compiled, the Simon Communities state that we need to enshrine the right to housing in the Constitution. The Minister has conveniently ignored that. I hope that today people will start to recognise that the policies the Government

local authorities were able to match the rate of delivery of Cork county then the rate of delivery of social housing and affordable housing right across the board would be much stronger. I commend the work of the councillors and the local authority there, of which the Deputy … area of Cork North-West he can see that Cork County Council is really accelerating and progressing the rate of delivery of social housing, which is impressive. We just need to keep pushing on and making sure that they are supported by us to do that

sights set on war as the key thing we are guaranteeing for future generations. Young people across the EU have social rights, housing and climate as their top priorities. Our leadership seems to have lost interest in solving those issues in Europe. The pressure is so overwhelming that … high standards for the things we buy and the things we make. It is not anticompetitive to say we cannot tolerate human rights abuses and slavery in our supply chains. That is what was guaranteed at European level in the corporate sustainability and due diligence directive, which

class housing estate in the ward I represented in Waterford city, there was a plan to put in place a service in a house right in the middle of the estate by an organisation that supported people with drug and addiction problems. There was a lot of fear … small number of residents were selected to go and visit centres in different parts of the State where the same organisation had similar houses providing similar services. Over time, the fear dissipated. The service providers won over the local community. That service has been there for the past

FLAC, and the people who will have to deal with the real-world consequences of this? These are foundational changes to statutory housing rights and we have had no proper, full, transparent parliamentary debate and committee scrutiny. We had that on the Bill as initiated … cannot withdraw emergency accommodation from somebody just for refusing one offer. I deal with my own local authority, as every Deputy in this House does. I have had situations where a house that is virtually in the middle of nowhere with no public transport links has been offered

must now deal with a postponed division relating to the Second Stage of the Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2026, taken on Thursday, 1 October 2026. On the question, "That the Bill be now read a Second Time", a division was claimed

between Ratoath and Ashbourne that would benefit hugely. The amendments to the disability Act should include the right to services and the right to housing. The Planning and Development Act 2024 should perhaps be amended to include a minimum percentage of housing

long time has been that as social welfare or other family support payments increase, average household incomes increase, and the Department of housing rightly faces calls to increase the limits. We go through this process and there is the opposite of a cliff edge where the numbers

fundamentally disagree with the Deputy's proposition. The State is investing the majority of funding in housing right now and has been for the last three to four years

being invested in the economy, in jobs and in housing right

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a homeowner who withdraws from the statutory appeals process under the enhanced defective concrete blocks scheme thereby loses their statutory right of appeal permanently; and, if not, the provisions that exist for a subsequent appeal

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in noting that Dublin City Council has had to pause its financial contribution scheme, when will his Department allocate funding and introduce a national right sizing policy that will allow local authorities re-establish this

Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has been made aware of concerns that the Electoral Commission, as well as international and domestic election observers, do not have a guaranteed right to access polling stations and count centres; whether

Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to set out the specific statutory provisions currently used to restrict or prohibit private domestic turf cutting by households, including in cases involving claimed traditional or inherited turbary rights; and to provide the number of instances

Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current position of the technical review of the enhanced defective concrete blocks scheme announced on 6 November 2024; if the scheme will not provide a mechanism to bypass the statutory right to appeal

asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to cessation of turf cutting scheme applicants whose scheme is due to end this year, if the scheme will be extended; if not, if other compensation will be provided to these turbary right holders

Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to a statement by an international election observation NGO (details supplied) that encountered difficulties observing the last general election calling for greater clarification of the rights of election observers

asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review a practice (details supplied) to ensure that applicants are provided with the full chartered engineer's report and reasoning prior to being required to make any decision affecting their rights under the defective concrete blocks

test for the housing adaptation grant, whether the means test applies to the legal owners or the residents in the case where parents reside in a family home but the ownership has been transferred to the children leaving the parents with a legal right to reside

asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps her Department is taking to ensure that the forthcoming amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, due to take effect in March 2026, achieve a fair balance between landlord and tenant rights; and if she will publish

asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to introduce regulations to provide for a deposit retention scheme under section 61 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015; the timeline for same; the measures being taken to strengthen tenants’ rights in respect of deposits

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding any mechanism in place within his Department that allows for civil servants to transfer on secondment to an equivalent role within the European Union, without negatively impacting their pension and other employment rights; his views on the merits

Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has sought or obtained legal advice on whether the exemption from normal planning procedures for accommodation centres for international protection applicants is compatible with Ireland’s obligations under the UNECE Aarhus Convention, particularly regarding the public’s right to information

Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the absence of statutory local area plans in Fingal since 2000 constitutes a breach of Ireland’s obligations under Articles 6 and 7 of the Aarhus Convention and whether he has received legal advice on potential breaches of public participation rights

Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the deadline for postal vote and special vote applications for the two by- elections was set only one working/postal day after the moving of the writ; and his views that such deadlines, effectively disenfranchise … persons who qualify, contrary to their constitutional rights under Art 16 of Bunreacht na hÉireann. [33939/26

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a practice (details supplied), is consistent with the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, which provides that a determination and the reasons for that determination … notified to the applicant prior to the exercise of any right of appeal; the way in which an applicant can make an informed decision to accept a remediation option or seek a review where the underlying chartered engineer's report and full technical reasoning are not made available

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason correspondence issued by the Housing Agency to homeowners under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme, following completion of an assessment under I.S. 465:2018, asks homeowners to indicate whether they wish to avail … technical review or allow the Remediation Option Grant approval to issue to the relevant local authority but does not reference the statutory right of appeal provided for under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022; whether he considers it consistent with

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to explain the legal basis for a practice (details supplied); if he will proceed with a recommended remediation option, given that the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 provides … that applicants must be notified of the determination and the reasons for it prior to exercising their right of appeal; the statutory basis, for withholding the chartered engineer's final report from applicants, given that the report forms the basis of the remediation option recommendation

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that people registering for a postal vote due to disability or illness are required to have their application form certified by a doctor, and that many doctors charge … this; if he accepts that this fee acts as a barrier to people with disabilities or long-term illnesses exercising their right to vote; and if he will consider measures to remove this barrier, such as providing the certification service free of charge or exploring alternative verification methods

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 … five years; whether a replacement or successor scheme is being considered; the arrangements that will apply to affected landowners and turbary right holders once their current compensation period ends; the consultation that will take place with those affected; and the next steps and timeline for decisions in this

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide details of the proposed legislative amendments to the defective concrete blocks grant scheme, including whether these amendments will recognise that all homeowners affected by defective concrete are in a vulnerable position, thus include provisions … allow for side-by-side remediation or rebuilding where possible, in order to ensure equitable treatment and protection of homeowners' rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57763/25

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will respond to calls from homeowners engaging with the defective concrete blocks grant scheme that engineering and other mandatory professional fees be excluded from the grant cap and covered separately; that storage … made available to all applicants during remediation, regardless of their grant level; and that the entire scheme be reviewed with a homeowner-first, rights-based approach that properly reflects the scale of this crisis. [54956/25