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need to treat the housing emergency in the same way we treated Covid. The whole of Government needs to get behind this, as does the Opposition, to come up with solutions. I do not want to see 4,653 children in emergency accommodation. I asked the Minister … take responsibility. I deal with families every day. I held a clinic on Monday. Of the 21 people I met, 17 had housing and four were homeless. This is on the watch of the parties opposite. Fine Gael has been in power for 14 years and Fianna Fáil

lifetime of paying exorbitant rents or leaving Ireland altogether to live, work and raise their families abroad. Not only is this housing catastrophe and emergency having huge personal impacts on people and their families and sounding the death knell of many a rural community, it is affecting … retain personnel and impacting our economic competitiveness. We will no doubt hear an awful lot from the Minister's side of the House about economic competitiveness over the coming days, but what is the Government's response to the housing emergency? There has been a cut of more

totally lacking people, particularly in the wet trades but also in skills like block laying. This is a huge impediment to getting houses. Imagine if we were to grant 112,000 work permits to people with skills to come into this country and build houses. Over many years … zoned land and road networks but the basic stuff we lack would be water and sewerage infrastructure, the very constraints that make housing very difficult to achieve and deliver. The Minister's Department has approved a pilot scheme. In County Clare we are waiting for schemes in Cooraclare

clerks of the Dáil are fair game. However, what else would you expect from a party that for decades refused to recognise this House and opposed this State – experts at blame and shame and little else. The Opposition won the argument that you cannot be in government … what it is worth, it was the right decision. The new Standing Orders recognise the constitutional rights of all elected Members of this House. Government backbenchers have as much right as Members of the Opposition to represent the concerns of the constituents who have elected them. Since

There is a responsibility on every Member of this House to make sure that it does not become a toxic place to work. I have been here for nine years. I have never found it a toxic place. I have found it a place where there is vigorous … different was because people were shouted down. I have no difficulty with or objection, and neither does anyone else in this House, to being heckled while making a speech. It is nearly part of the democratic process. However, when somebody is incapable or prevented from making a speech

barriers for women in worlds traditionally dominated by men. Verona Murphy, too, has done that as the first female Ceann Comhairle of this House. She had a chance to dispense with the old boys' club, the back-room deals, the wink-and-nudge politics and, indeed, the stroke … previously as a member of Louth County Council, as being for the common good. Unfortunately, when it comes to the running of this House, what the Ceann Comhairle has said and done so far has only been in service to the deal the Lowry grouping of Independent

support of this motion of confidence in our Ceann Comhairle. It is hugely regrettable that we are faced with this situation in the House this evening - a motion that has come about because of the prolonged attempts by Opposition to obstruct this Dáil and the Government from getting … with their business. Every single Member of this House was democratically elected back in November. This Government, albeit with the attempt by the Opposition to obstruct us, was democratically elected and we have had a fair election of our Ceann Comhairle, who now needs

Minister’s brief. It is another great unfairness that needs to be addressed and probably is between the Minister and the Minister for housing. It is about people who go over eligibility thresholds for social housing support. When they go over those thresholds, even if they have been … housing list for 15 or 20 years, all of a sudden they have gone off a cliff. They spent all those years waiting and they are not entitled either to housing financial support such as HAP or rental allowance, etc. That is between the Minister and the Department

That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to be bringing the Statute Law Revision Bill 2024 to the House today. The Bill was introduced in the Seanad on 23 October 2024 and it passed Report and Final Stages in that House … will be repealed by the Bill attached to this memorandum and they are listed in Schedule 2. I will outline to the House the main provisions of the Bill. Section 1 of the Bill provides definitions for terms used throughout the Bill. Section 2 of the Bill revokes

programme for Government commits to delivering more than 300,000 houses between 2025 and the end of 2030, an average of over 50,000 per annum. Delivery over the period will need to rise incrementally to 60,000 homes per year by 2030. This target of reaching … challenge. This can be facilitated by targeted support to grow the construction industry’s capacity year-on-year, establishing a platform from which housing supply can be ramped up to the higher levels needed. It is intended to revisit these targets in 2027 if, reflecting on demand

Department never makes projections of what housing delivery will be. We have heard in the past number of weeks everything from 30,000 to 40,000 through different sectors in terms of various projections for completions. The outcome will be what will be. My intention will … maximise the delivery of housing over the next 12 months and, indeed, over the next number of years. As Minister for housing, I am re-examining every aspect of how we deliver on those targets and what else we can do to ensure that they can be delivered

This year the Government has already committed €6.5 billion towards delivering housing in this country. We need probably a minimum of €20 billion spent on housing to deliver the necessary housing. The rest of that money has to come from the private sector. Financial firms, whether national … that private funding to deliver those properties. While the Deputy is quick to criticise, his own manifesto commits to private funding to deliver housing in this country and yet he is not setting out what he would do in terms of where he would get that funding from

very familiar with his passion for affordable housing. He was always an advocate for social housing of all sorts and in Cork county in particular, he has been one of the key voices in ramping up the delivery of different affordable housing solutions. There is a project … that such projects will be ramped up at speed and we will deliver them as quickly as we can. Since the publication of Housing for All, 10,000 affordable housing solutions have been delivered. We need to do more; we need to accelerate that delivery. That

cheaper. The Government is only giving €11,000 plus the grant for the retrofitting, so call it €25,000. Therefore, all the cheaper houses are done first, but what happens then is that the local authorities are leaving the houses that are worst affected idle for years. Houses … children are growing up? Without criticising the Minister of State because he is new into the job - I said this to previous housing Ministers and I will say it to him now - will he please increase the funding? Many local authorities do not have the budgets to carry

from dreadful circumstances, but a huge number have been stalled within the last period. I accept checks and balances with regard to purchasing houses that are up to standard are needed but there have also been times when the local authority is not looking at old local authority … housing stock and is literally looking at what are almost brand new houses, and I have spoken to the Minister before about how there needs to be flexibility with regard to the money from, let us say, a maintenance point of view. While I accept they need

welcome this opportunity to brief the House on matters relating to international security and international trade. With the agreement of the House, I will share time with the Minister, Deputy Burke. The two issues we are discussing are at the core of Ireland’s foreign relations … most important duties of any Government. I hope that is something on which all of us in the House can agree. Domestically, we in Ireland are advancing a range of measures to ensure the security of our country, to enhance our resilience to hybrid threats and to prepare

weeks ago and they were very quickly put on the agenda, which highlights the regard in which we hold this issue in the House. The 1989 academic paper "The End of History?" by Francis Fukuyama, and the subsequent book, The End of History and the Last … that it is another so-called end of history. I believe it is that serious. Only last night, we saw the White House put out that they should be given control of Ukraine's energy infrastructure as part of ongoing peace talks. This is incredible. Not only

fire station in Rathdowney. This has been sought for a number of years now. The current station was built to house a jeep and the small mobile pump they used to pull behind them. I do not know if the Minister of State would remember them … Land Rovers. Smaller towns had them and that is what the station housed. There are three vehicles there now, including two large fire tenders and one jeep. Only one of the larger vehicles and the jeep can be housed in it. It is very difficult

focus now, fundamentally, is to work on a whole set of policies that can get us more houses built faster for young people in particular, so that they can afford to either buy or rent homes. There is a range of issues we have to examine in that … regard and continue to develop. As I said, we have already allocated an additional €800 million in respect of housing in the first two to three months of this Government, over and above what was allocated, to get more housing through. The Deputy referenced planning permissions. Planning permission

Taoiseach told the electorate a few months ago that the housing target for this year was 41,000 homes. Is he now saying that target is gone? Is he now saying that he has no housing target for 2025? What is the Government's housing target … homes. Is that still his target or has he ditched it? Why is he refusing to answer questions about what the Government's housing target is for 2025? Second, there is that question the Taoiseach has now been asked three times but he has not answered

Central Bank in its latest quarterly report issued another damning indictment of the catastrophic failure of Government housing policy. One aspect of it that relates to this subcommittee is the fact that deficits in water infrastructure are now a major impediment to delivering the volume of housing necessary … address the housing crisis. I wonder if there is any joined-up thinking going on in terms of the enormous volume of water usage by data centres and the proliferation of such centres. We already know they use up 20% of our electricity, and they are driving

That we are having statements on housing is another example of the fact that we are not functioning properly as a Legislature. The very fact we are having statements instead of pushing through legislation is basically a Dáil trying to look busy instead of doing the work … showing the Government up for its inability to let this Parliament function. I wish to raise the issue of the number of houses that are derelict around the country. There are 160,000 derelict houses. That is an incredible number of homes that are empty in the middle

have come to this housing debate God knows how many times now. I think we have had about six or seven debates on housing. In one sense, it recognises the importance of the issue. However, as Deputy Tóibín said, we are having a lot of statements … going around in circles without actually moving forward. The Housing Commission's report, for example, has been going for some time at this stage. It is supposed to be this comprehensive roadmap, but so far very little has been done regarding it. In one of my earlier contributions

small, she cannot go to work. Her husband works in the fire brigade in our town. They are living in a rented house and have received a notice to quit, which is valid. They are going to have to leave the house. They can find nowhere else … know where they stand? Why can local authorities not know how much money they will have in order that they can purchase houses and take people out of their misery? What is happening is hugely stressful. Dozens of people across my constituency are affected. I live

based in the community, they have sports clubs and all the necessities and supports around them. They are expected to vacate their house when their landlord is selling it. It is a case of "Off you go, abscond to somewhere else or go into homeless services". I want … make the Minister aware of one particular couple who lost their house in 2008, through no fault of their own. They lost their house because of the mismanagement of the Fianna Fáil Administration at the time. They are now renting accommodation but were recently told they will have

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if British Board of Agrément certification continues to be recognised as evidence of fitness for purpose for construction products post-Brexit when used in Irish housing; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if in the instance of a social housing assistance income assessment being undertaken and that the decision is disputed by the applicant after appeal with the local authority, would the applicant have any recourse

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the legal or policy basis for local authorities for refusing adult children, returning to the family home due to the housing crisis, permission to be added to the rent book. [65757/25

Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the income eligibility limits for social housing in Cavan and Monaghan will be increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65796/25

Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether there are plans for the threshold for social housing to be increased. [65914/25

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify the role State savings play in housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65919/25

Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider introducing a dedicated rural housing strategy to support population growth in villages, including incentives for young families and remote workers to settle in rural areas; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will support the development of a national requirement that all developers constructing new housing estates provide an automated external defibrillator (AED) within the estate; and if he will consider incorporating such a requirement

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on retrofitting for local authority housing; the status of progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66128/25

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has engaged with the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to address the impact of electricity grid constraints on housing targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66129/25

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide affordable housing in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66144/25

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing projects sanctioned above basic unit costs in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025; the reasons for the higher approval levels in each case; and if he will make

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will publish the first consolidated national report on housing delivered under the Town Centre First policy, including the number of units delivered in each local authority area; and if he will make

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing units in Cork city and Cork county that currently remain below BER C; the number upgraded in 2023 and 2024; and the projected number that will remain below

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of heat pumps installed in social housing in Cork city and Cork county in 2023 and 2024; the target for 2025; and whether these installation levels align with national climate commitments

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department tracks reductions in energy poverty among social housing tenants following retrofitting works; and when such tracking will be published on a national and local authority basis; and if he will make

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing retrofits completed in smaller Cork settlements including Blarney, Tower, Glanmire, Grenagh, Whitechurch, Mayfield and surrounding areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66216/25

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if his Department has met with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage or the Housing Agency to assess whether increased LPT liabilities for homes valued between €200,000 and €500,000 could affect supply decisions

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total allocation of funding provided to each local authority in 2024, 2025 and 2026 for change of tenancy works in their housing stock, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the supports available to people awaiting a division of assets, for example sale of a jointly owned home, through the courts for a legal separation/divorce who require social housing; and if he will make

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will introduce legislation or support the progression of the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill 2017 which proposes to place a statutory obligation on local authorities to consider the best interests of the child when responding

Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessments his Department has carried out on the impact of students studying English language courses on housing pressures in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64303/25

Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline his Department’s strategy in relation to the housing needs of students studying on English language courses in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64304/25

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the updated code of practice for local authority approved housing bodies nominations will commence. [64364/25

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the supports being provided to local authorities to ensure value for money in delivering social and affordable housing; the budget oversight mechanisms applied; and whether each authority is meeting its cost-control requirements. [64408/25