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transfer of staff to NTMA 7.The Minister shall, within 1 month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report detailing all of the transfer of staff from NAMA to the NTMA, provide information on salary and if any existing … this because, obviously, it wanted that individual to end up being in a wee cosy job it has earmarked for him as the housing tsar but that all fell asunder as well. We have been stonewalled on this for months. Information should be available to the public

thank the Deputies for raising this important matter and providing me an opportunity to update the House. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. The funding system for local authorities is a complex … million in 2025 to Galway County Council across a number of schemes and funding sources. The amount of funding provided under housing programmes and voluntary call schemes such as the URDF is largely determined by individual local authority ambition and activity. In 2025, a sizeable portion of funding

wonderful personality and performed on a number of instruments and sang, etc. It was a wonderful experience. In terms of social housing income thresholds, I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy James Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, and we have had discussions on this … Yesterday's announcement was very significant. The €1 billion announced by the Minister will unlock thousands of houses. I am in favour of increasing social housing income thresholds substantially and significantly. There are issues in terms of the coupling of that with housing assistance payments

This Bill deals with access to social housing support. I am aware the rules outlined in it are already in place in my two local authorities, Galway City Council and Galway County Council. I want to talk about the impact of the housing crisis on the people … Galway. For the majority of people trying to access social housing support in Galway, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible. If you are homeless and present for emergency accommodation, you have to be put on a waiting list because emergency accommodation in Galway is full

Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar an mBille seo. The Bill follows on from the financial resolutions that were passed through these Houses and came into effect in March and again in April in relation to the fuel crisis. Section 1, as the Minister of State said … this fact and the genuine issue that hauliers were facing, we still see no action to address it. Sinn Féin argued in this House over and over again for a completely different approach. Because of how the EU energy directive is designed, when the diesel rebate scheme

everyone in this country who could not afford to buy an electric car. People are building new homes and have A-rated houses with heat pumps and solar panels. I commend it, but when the snow hit and they went three weeks without power, they all bought diesel … generators because when the infrastructure was down, they had no other way to heat their houses. The problem with heat pumps is a 20 kW generator is needed to run them so all they will do with their generators is run an electric heater and run the power

thank the Deputy for the question on housing and how we give our young people hope in terms of the ability to own or indeed in some cases to build their own home. I do not say this in any way disrespectfully to the Deputy but taxes … schemes in place and have commitments in the programme for Government to keep them under review. We have to do more on rural housing. We have to make sure that people have an ability to live in their own community. It is a really important part of balanced

ghéarchéim tithíochta sna Gaeltachtaí uafásach ar fad. It is time to give a direct role to Údarás na Gaeltachta to deliver affordable housing in the Gaeltacht areas. Táim ag tacú le Conradh na Gaeilge agus grúpaí pobail eile, ar nós Tintéan agus BÁNÚ, agus iad ag lorg cumhachtaí … Gaeltacht as an Irish-speaking community and the future of the language itself is in jeopardy as a result of the housing crisis, which is a housing disaster, in the Gaeltacht. What we want to see in proposing these amendments is a shift and a change to give

want to come back in on this. Fianna Fáil has had a history of developing housing in a very progressive way in the past. This is a time for new initiatives, a time for vision and a time for radical action on the housing crisis, nowhere more … údarás. These organisations, Conradh na Gaeilge, BÁNÚ and Tinteán, are looking for Údarás na Gaeltachta to have this role to actually deliver housing. I am in complete agreement with them. We put forward this proposal in our housing plan for the Gaeltachtaí because, at the moment

local area, he will see, given the cost of building and everything else, that despite the €70,000 grant to do up a house, where the individual owns it, it is still very difficult to do. I could cost anything from … blocks and boots on the ground. That is not the Minister of State's problem; it is problem in the Department of housing. In regard to the acquisition payments, I guarantee the Minister of State that when a house is subject to a compulsory purchase order

made a significant social and economic contribution. It achieved a €5.6 billion surplus. It supported the delivery of more than 45,500 houses, contributed to Dublin Docklands regeneration and a number of houses and lands were transferred to the Land Development Agency, which will contribute to the delivery … further houses in the years ahead. Some contributors asked about pre-legislative scrutiny. I understand the Tánaiste has written to the Chair of the joint committee on finance to respond comprehensively. If any of the Deputies on that committee did not get the response, we will be happy

that are greater than those that took place during the Famine. These are families and children. I knocked on the doors of two houses that were side by side in Cabra today. One woman was in tears because she is being evicted with nowhere … elderly woman who has cancer and says there is nowhere she can go. The house next door is overcrowded. It is absolutely disgraceful and shameful. This Government is one of the cruellest and most callous Governments we have had since the foundation of the State. It is incredible

area is very strange too. I know of cases with regard to Waterford County Council and An Coimisiún Pleanála. In large groups of housing estates, a stipulation was put in that the first owners would have to remain in them and they could not be bought … Sisk in this case - get all 11 sites in the country and get €450,000 per unit? We could build the finest house in Tipperary or any other county for €450,000. Another issue is the problem with the blocks and cement. Instead of making the big companies

That strategy is not going to work. In the meantime, the decisions he is making are in real time punishing renters for his housing policy failures. All the while the Minister is not meeting his social housing targets. He can make all the comparisons he wants with … 1970s but we have twice the population now we had then and the level of social housing need is far greater. The State would need to double social housing output on its current level to come anywhere close to meeting the level of need. The housing targets

increased on a quarterly and a yearly basis. Increased supply is key to addressing homelessness, meeting need and addressing the challenges in the housing market. Therefore, we are building more than ever in recent times. A record level of investment is being provided for the delivery of housing … with €5.2 billion in Exchequer capital funding complemented by investment through the Land Development Agency, LDA, and lending from the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, bringing the total capital funding for housing in 2026 to over €9 billion. Delivering Homes, Building Communities aims to deliver 300,000 new homes

tenancies, landlords and homes than there were this time last year. That is not to say that there is not a very significant housing challenge or that we are not still in the midst of a housing emergency, but it is to provide some fair and balanced analysis … just been published. The Deputy referred to protection for renters. He knows, because he voted against them, that we took measures in this House to strengthen the rights of tenants. He knows that there are people in his constituency in Donegal who are now covered by rent pressure

many Irish citizens with different ethnic backgrounds who play a very full and meaningful contribution to Irish life. Regarding the broader issue of housing, this Government, in particular over the last number of years, has substantially step-changed the provision of social housing. This year … compared with very low numbers four or five years ago. There has been a very substantial step-change in the provision of public housing itself. Significant funding is also made available to local authorities, and particularly Dublin City Council, in respect of regeneration, refurbishment and maintenance

Gardens and the redevelopment of St. Mary's Mansions in the north inner city. Regeneration is not only about renovating or building new houses or apartments; it is also about providing proper community facilities and services. It is important that such redevelopments and regeneration projects ensure community … process. A recent report from Eurostat shows Ireland has the highest household electricity prices in the European Union. DCC currently maintains an ageing housing stock with over 50% of its properties built between 1930 and 1977. A big problem with the council's retrofitting works programme is that

real apprehension out there with regard to what is happening. We have 3,000 people caught in a scheme, and 300-plus houses completed and 300 more to come. At the rate we are going, it will take decades to rebuild the 3,000 houses. The real number … affected materials that came from a certain quarry. The damage threshold might not come through yet, but people are living in houses with plastered up walls that only contain sand. There are no blocks there any more. The reality is that to this day there is no proper

spread rumours saying the Government is going to do this and that. Let us get the background to this. Everyone in this House was agreed that housing was the number one priority, or at least I thought it was the number one priority, facing this Dáil … commencement. The objective in terms of the short-term lets legislation is actually to get more houses back into the rental market. The policy decision we have taken, of which the Deputy is well aware, is that it relates to towns over 20,000, so that excludes straight

workers benefit from - families and people generally. It is investment in education, health, childcare and right across the board but most critically in housing. Housing remains the number one issue facing our country. We put unprecedented investment into housing so that young working people could benefit from significant … help to buy scheme, the first home scheme and the rental tax credit. We introduced a significant range of supports to increase housing supply so that young people could be in a position to buy and rent houses they could afford. We will continue to relentlessly pursue

That is why the work with utilities to build that enabling infrastructure is absolutely critical. There will be wider co-ordination with the housing activation office, which is working on this at a local level, for example, in Offaly. What are the opportunities to advance housing supply … growth at a local level? Where is there particular road or water infrastructure or a need from an energy perspective to advance housing supply? That work is happening with the housing activation office. What we are doing in my Department is with the utilities at a national level

that based on our experience the biggest threat to the Irish economic model was not the return of Donald Trump to the White House but the re-election of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. I am pleased to see, however, that there is at least a new impetus … delivered, the bridges that are never built, the renewable energy resources that were promised and have yet to materialise, and the houses that will not be completed because the necessary water systems are not there. An infrastructure deficit is, more than anything else, what holds people back from

different type of prescription in the time ahead. I say that genuinely with humility because I cannot predict - respectfully, no one in this House can, and I am not sure there are many people in the world who can - where the scale of economic challenge will … economic challenge. That is not looking likely, based on what we see now. We may well have to come back to the House at future moments and indeed in budgets in the time ahead and have conversations about further assistance and interventions to support our economy

November, with an Action Plan for Energy Affordability to be published in Q3 of this year.". I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on an issue that is weighing heavily on households, businesses and families right across the country. It is right that … commentary and in all our interventions should be to seek an immediate de-escalation. I think that is a view shared across this House. De-escalation is important for humanitarian needs, but also because, from an economic point of view, it would lead to the greatest level

Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which a family can avail of homeless services and supports, including accommodation, in cases in which the family is going to be made homeless and is not on the local authority housing list

Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of affordable housing properties purchased under the affordable purchase scheme, by each local authority in each of the years, 2023, 2024 and 2025. [44825/26

Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will introduce a statutory instrument requiring developers to provide essential amenities and infrastructure before new housing developments are occupied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44868/26

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to raise the rate paid out in housing adaptation grants scheme in the context of rising building costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44301/26

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has assessed the impact of DION-related delays on delivery of social housing units, including those under mortgage to rent and CALF; the estimated number of units delayed as a result

refreshed Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ireland and the United Kingdom on 11 March 2026 is expected to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas; the reasons it has not yet been laid before the Houses; whether any changes in policy, operational cooperation, training arrangements, information-sharing

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will establish a joint working group to address the level of supports that should be provided to older people by local authorities in line with the Age Friendly Counties Programme and in the context … Programme for Government identifying a social supports for approved housing bodies. [41466/26

Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing units delivered in Longford-Westmeath in each of the past five years, by local authority area and delivery mechanism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41593/26

Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households currently on the social housing waiting list in Longford and Westmeath respectively; the average waiting time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41595/26

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding a housing exemption (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41780/26

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total expenditure on housing assistance payments for non-Irish nationals in each of the years 2022 to 2025 and to date in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41982/26

Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to revise the first home scheme house value limits for Limerick; if he will consider allowing individuals to avail of the scheme to attain the 30% of the existing limit and fund

Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding an application for funding from Louth County Council through the housing activation funding scheme to allow for the next phase of the Drogheda port access northern cross route to cross the Dublin- Belfast

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing units owned by Cork City Council not in use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42051/26

Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether LGBTQ+ inclusion and vulnerability are considered within homelessness prevention strategies and Housing First approaches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42072/26

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the data that is available regarding households removed from social housing lists nationally; and to provide a breakdown, by year and by local authority of the number of people removed from the lists

Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether, in light of the NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements Guidelines issued in July 2025 (details supplied) planning authorities are now permitted to expand settlement boundaries and zone land beyond existing built-up areas; whether this

Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to the planned winding up of the Pyrite Board, the number of houses remediated following a rating of ‘DCR1 with progression’; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42355/26

Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to the planned winding up of the Pyrite Board the number of houses rated ‘DCR1 with progression’ which were refused remediation by the Pyrite Board; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the fact that the majority of local authority housing maintenance expenditure nationally is reactive rather than planned; the steps he is taking to support local authorities to transition to a planned, cyclical maintenance

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority dwellings that have been the subject of a stock condition survey to date; the projected date by which such surveys will be completed across the entire social housing stock

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the rollout of the national housing asset management system being delivered through the Local Government Management Agency; the number of local authorities currently using the system; and when it will be fully operational

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department collects data on the length of time that social housing units remain vacant; the number of local authority dwellings nationally that have been vacant for more than 24 months; and the specific measures

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm if a “qualified child increase” is taken into account in the assessment of means for social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42767/26

Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will share analysis undertaken by his Department to quantify the level of concentration of ownership of Irish housing stock by foreign investors, or subsidiaries of foreign investors by country of origin over the last