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thank Deputy Timmins for raising this in his role as TD for Wicklow. Under Housing for All, the Government has committed to delivering 47,600 new-build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022 to 2026. Our clear focus … increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs. The number of new-build social homes in the pipeline continues to remain strong year on year, with new construction projects getting under way regularly. The strongest national delivery

have the chance to raise these important issues. I wish to discuss and deal with the issues preventing homeowners from renting out vacant houses and the tax that people have to pay. People must pay up to 50% in tax when they rent a private house … respect of a house that they want to rent out. Fifty percent of €800 is only €400, and it is not worthwhile for many people who I know with these types of houses. The other thing is that people cannot get tenants out when they want to. That

recent times on the health service and mental health service, and there are significant challenges in all those areas. However, resolving the housing issue will be particularly challenging but it will also have a knock-on effect in improving health outcomes. It is not unjust or unfair … Galway City Council waiting list for a two-bedroom home, their wait will be in excess of a decade. If they get a house within a decade, they will be doing well. For those who may be waiting for a four-bedroom, the council does not have four

society. That view is espoused by Government Members out of one side of their mouth while, out of the other, we hear a housing policy that means the average age at which a person first buys a house has now risen to 39 years of age. Every year … that. I would be interested to know if that is the view of Government or if it is just an individual view. The Housing Commission report called for a radical reset of housing policy. The commission did not do this because it wanted to make life harder

snowball's chance in hell of delivering 40,000 homes last year. That report in October was damning and nobody in industry, housing policy or across the Opposition believed anything close to 40,000 homes would be delivered. The Tánaiste and Taoiseach chose to ignore and dismiss … mislead the public in advance of a general election. They did all of this because they wanted to create a narrative that their housing policies were working when clearly they were not. What is their real record? It is runaway housing prices, sky-high rents, missing

welcome the opportunity to address the House on budget 2027 and the unprecedented investment this Government is making through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This budget provides my Vote group with a record funding allocation of €11.9 billion reflecting the priority this Government places … housing delivery and related infrastructure development. The allocation will also fund vital expenditure in the areas of local government, Met Éireann and heritage, as well as in Tailte Éireann and An Coimisiún Toghcháin, which are important elements of my Department's Vote group. Housing remains the Government

with the big lists that he gave? Regarding the lists that the Minister gave, none of them give a constitutional right to housing to people who should be entitled to it. The Minister is his failing in his duty because right now in Cork and Kerry there … Commitments were made before the previous election. Typical Fianna Fáil promised that there would be a referendum. I was on the previous housing committee where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members spoke about having a constitutional right to housing and to a family having a home. Now, they

Decent housing is enshrined as a human right in Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It should also be enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish Constitution. A referendum to that effect should be called immediately. The policy of successive Governments has been … well over 17,000 families who are now homeless, including well over 5,500 children. Thousands more are living in substandard council houses and flats all over the country. Housing rents, including council rents, have skyrocketed and are being further substantially increased by the new rents regime introduced

Minister to look at it. If it were to be changed, it would not be that much more costly. Not too many houses are affected but each and every one is important. I ask the Minister to have a look at this between now and Committee Stage. Recently … Patrick's Day in 2006. I toured the city and saw the devastation there. The only difference was that after Hurricane Katrina the houses were not left standing. Those houses were totally demolished whereas in Donegal the houses are not demolished but they are crumbling. Through time, unless

build social and affordable homes to buy or rent. There is a record level of investment being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding available of €6.8 billion. The capital provision is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address … housing need. This funding will support the delivery of increased numbers of social housing and cost-rental homes. On 10 June 2025, the Government approved new policy measures to provide for the enhancement of rent controls and tenancy protections from 1 March 2026. The stronger tenancy protections will

left. I cannot think of anything more inappropriate from a TD who is part of the Government that is standing over a housing crisis. The only sanctimonious rant that I have ever heard in this Chamber has been from successive Governments. They have used it as a tool … about disinformation. Most of the disinformation I am concerned about arises from the Government, whether it is national or international politics. Specifically on housing, when I left the local authority in Galway in 2016 the city was in the middle of a housing crisis. I became

want to set out some of these achievements that have been made to date, but very much recognise that we are in a housing crisis. I am treating it as an emergency. I am taking rapid decisions to address the housing crisis in this country in order that … what we have to do to get out of the challenging crisis we are in. Despite the upward trajectory in supply under Housing for All, the number of new homes built last year was disappointing. Overall, we delivered more ahead of our targets under Housing

very much welcome the opportunity to come before the House this evening to speak on housing matters. I take this opportunity to thank all of the Members who contributed this evening to the important, worthwhile and very interesting debate. First, I echo the contributions of the Ministers … State, Deputies O'Sullivan and Cummins, earlier and reassert the Government's commitment and determination to tackle the challenges in the housing sector. We know these challenges are having a very real impact on people's lives. We understand the urgency and need to ensure sufficient numbers

Impact Statement, the Post-Consultation Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Report, and the Appropriate Assessment Determination. I welcome the opportunity to come before the House to discuss and seek approval for the final draft of the revised national planning framework, which was approved by the Government on 8 April … reflects the importance and the urgency of a co-ordinated, plan-led approach for the effective delivery of critical development, such as housing, employment and climate-resilient electricity generation. This is an addition to the facilities and services required to meet the needs of our citizens. I wish

local area plans, but they also provide a long-term strategic framework for investment and delivery of much-needed infrastructure and for housing. Getting it right is crucial and getting it wrong is more than damaging. In order to get the plan right, the process … Oireachtas. The document itself should have been brought into committee. There should have been an opportunity for detailed scrutiny, not just in our housing and planning committee but in other committees as well. Instead we got a very brief session several days before the dissolution of the Dáil

Labour Party for tabling this motion. The empty Government benches are indicative of the Government's lack of seriousness in dealing with the housing issue and its lack of willingness to listen to new ideas. This Friday is St. Valentine's Day, and we all know who will … Taoiseach's recent statements while poor renters and generations stuck at home have been ghosted and gaslit by the Government's failures in housing and its plans to let rents rise again. Renters are panicking about how they will pay for further rent increases. Has the Government looked

protection currently benefitting from the scheme where those beneficiaries of temporary protection have satisfied a means test similar to those applicable for other housing assistance payments; — new applications who propose to host a beneficiary of temporary protection in their property which is also their own primary residence … their spare rooms to Ukrainians fleeing the war. Those people absolutely deserve to be commended. When the ARP scheme was brought before the House, there was absolutely unanimous support for it. However, Government moved away from the original intention behind that scheme, at one stage increasing the payment

NSAI, membership of this Committee included representatives of the concrete industry, Engineers Ireland, the Geological Survey Ireland, homeowner action groups, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Housing Agency; and — a new revised Standard, I.S. 465:2026, was recently published by the NSAI … research in the area, it entails quite significant changes from the previous Standard in that, under the new Standard, almost all houses with defective concrete blocks would be demolished, and furthermore, the Standard provides for the testing of the foundations of each house in case they

statutory footing what is already the practice in terms of eligibility criteria on residency and habitual residency for social housing. It is just technical and it is a tidying-up exercise, providing a little bit more efficiency for decisions of the RTB in the second instance. There … seen how it has then resulted in horrific attacks on people who happen to be immigrants and people of colour in the North. Houses are being burnt out and vile, vicious racist attacks are taking place against people purely on the basis that they are deemed

Government is committed to working towards ending homelessness by 2030. To meet this commitment, Delivering Homes, Building Communities was developed as an integrated housing and homeless plan. The new plan is based on two key pillars: activating the supply of 300,000 more homes and supporting people … have a home of their own. The plan will ensure that the funding and strategies deployed to address housing and homelessness are fully aligned at all times. Increased supply is key to addressing homelessness. The Government is focused on making sure that everyone has access to good-quality

effect on 1 March 2026, immediately following the expiration of rent pressure zones. These decisions have been informed by the findings of the Housing Agency review of rent pressure zones. These showed the existing rules were restricting supply and potential policy options. There is also the agency … preferred recommendation to modify the existing operation of the current rent controls. This followed comprehensive examination by the Housing Agency and stakeholder engagement. The approved policy measures aim to boost investment in the supply of homes available for rent and to keep existing landlords in the market

have taken out the front of buildings with 300 or 400 tonnes of stone propped over the buildings. For a semi-detached house - it depends on the era it was built in - there could a 6 in. or 9 in. block wall in the middle separating them … roofs - then the rafters are on the same wall plates, which means that if you disturb anything, you weaken it. If a house on one side is defective, the same bloody blocks are on the other side. If you open it to the elements, you make the other

estate in Killarney who have received notices to quit from the property owner, the Cypriot property company Xerico Limited, which owns the 14 houses in the estate. I have asked the Minister what can be done for these families because it is very clear that these people … controls. Tenants cannot move. If they want to move to Killarney from Tralee, or vice versa, they will not be able to get houses there. We are shrinking the landlord market when we should be increasing it. Last year and the year before, I raised the issue

Department's budget package for 2026 sees some €11.275 billion allocated across my Department, Tailte Éireann and an Coimisiún Toghcháin. Housing capital investment has reached a record €9 billion. We have introduced a 29% increase for Uisce Éireann to advance water infrastructure and facilitate housing development. We have … State, Deputy Christopher O’Sullivan, will speak on in further detail later. They are some of the key highlights. Vote 34 on housing, Vote 16 on Tailte Éireann and Vote 23 on an Coimisiún Toghcháin are all under my remit as Minister and collectively, budget 2026 will provide

Government might not completely agree with the Bill, the core idea and proposal it contains is that there would be transparency in the housing market where the State is intervening and subsidising directly using taxpayers' money. That is a very reasonable proposal, which is why it is deeply … around their accounts? The Government opposing such a minor request for transparency is deeply disappointing. When we look at the scale of the housing crisis, one of the big issues is the profits that are being extracted and the scale at which they are being extracted

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures being taken to support the delivery of additional housing in Gaeltacht areas; whether his Department has assessed how the proposed changes to planning policy may affect the availability of housing for people wishing

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the oversight his Department exercises over rent-setting policies of approved housing bodies funded under the capital assistance scheme; whether his Department has the power to intervene where proposed rent increases would cause financial hardship … elderly social housing tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51243/26

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he has examined extending rent pressure zone protections, or introducing equivalent rent increase limits, to approved housing bodies providing social housing under the capital assistance scheme; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will review the operation of the economic value provisions applied by approved housing bodies in determining rents, particularly in the case of elderly tenants living in social housing funded by the State

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the proposed social housing defective concrete blocks remediation scheme; if approved housing body-owned or operated properties, including supported accommodation and rehabilitation centres will be eligible for inclusion under this scheme; the anticipated

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the public consultation and engagement with the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage he intends to undertake with respect to the Sustainable Rural & Gaeltacht Housing DRAFT National Planning Policy. [51824/26

Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to introduce a grant incentive scheme for social housing tenants to purchase private housing (details supplied). [50507/26

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total cost of the construction works and modular units provided at Castlerea Prison, Loughan House Open Centre, and Shelton Abbey Open Centre, with the costs broken down on a site-by-site basis and including all associated planning, construction, consultancy … related project costs; the total cost of the construction and renovation works for the Governors House at Loughan House Open Centre including all associated planning, construction, consultancy, and related project costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50523/26

Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he has had any engagement with the Department of Housing; Local Government and Heritage or Meath County Council with a view to transferring a property in County Meath (details supplied) to the local authority … approved housing body so it can be used for social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48864/26

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether that in cases in which a person is on the housing list in one local authority area, but in rented accommodation in an adjacent area, and is threatened with homelessness, that … other homelessness prevention measures; and his further views on whether it should be the local authority where the person is on the housing list, or the local authority where the person is resident, that takes responsibility for homelessness prevention measures such as tenant-in-situ. [49084/26

Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason Part V housing tenants are precluded from purchasing the houses they are renting but could have the option to do so in 100% council estates; whether he acknowledges the inequity; and if he will

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an increase in Part V housing stock to be available for affordable housing schemes in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47988/26

Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans for delivering affordable housing in villages and rural communities in County Waterford such as An Rinn, Ardmore, Lismore, and Bonmahon, that are experiencing pronounced housing pressures and demographic cliff edges, if not addressed

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the progress being made on the new National Planning Statement on Rural Housing; the measures being considered to ensure that young people and families with genuine local connections can build homes in their own communities; when … revised rural housing policy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48111/26

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will engage with the Minister for Rural, Community Development and the Gaeltacht to examine additional housing supports and measures to assist individuals and families who wish to buy, build or continue living in Gaeltacht … communities; the steps being taken to ensure housing policy supports the long-term sustainability of Gaeltacht areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48112/26

Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will create a fund similar to the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund to unlock development lands in unfinished housing estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48223/26

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking to address the housing needs of over 55s who wish to right size into social and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48052/26

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has assessed the current unmet demand for purpose built and adapted housing for persons with disabilities; whether he is satisfied that the level of delivery currently being achieved by local authorities and approved … housing bodies is sufficient to meet identified need; the additional measures being considered to increase delivery where demand exceeds supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48278/26

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in view of the proposed review of rural housing planning policies, if he will review planning restrictions affecting applicants seeking permission for one-off housing developments along the N56 in County Donegal; and if he will

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if, in light of the fact that all downgrade appeals heard to date have resulted in the Housing Agency's decisions being annulled, he will direct that cases returned to the Housing Agency

Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing developments specifically designed for older people delivered in each local authority area, including age friendly, right sizing, and supported housing schemes, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the overall funding provided for DPGs, both social housing and private housing, in 2024 and 2025 respectively. [47265/26

Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average all-in cost of delivering a new-build social housing unit in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively, by a one-bedroom apartment, two-bedroom apartment, three-bedroom house; the breakdown

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the proposed review of rural housing planning policies will include a review of planning restrictions affecting applicants seeking permission for one-off housing developments along the N56 in County Donegal; and if he will make

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the breakdown of funding provided under Traveller accommodation programmes, including Traveller housing grants, to Mayo County Council over the past five years and to date in 2026; the proportion of that funding drawn down and spent … number of Traveller-specific housing units delivered, refurbished or upgraded over that period; the current targets set under the Traveller Accommodation Programme; and the projected delivery of additional Traveller accommodation units in County Mayo over the next three to five years. [45550/26