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someone who has been in construction all my life, I have spent the past five years in the House telling people they cannot build houses without infrastructure. We cannot build houses without having water, sewerage, electricity and an Internet service. The LDA has not built one house … cities, so that we build together. When he was Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien came to Limerick and travelled around the county announcing houses here and there that were being finished. On every site I went to with him and other representatives, I asked

strike, it should be the private sector workers as well. I say exactly the same to those who are affected by the housing crisis. The tens and tens of thousands who are affected by the housing crisis in this country should get their placards ready the way they … Spain and France at the moment because there is less than nothing in terms of the housing crisis in this budget. The renters' tax credit increased by €150, which amounts to a 15% increase. The problem is that rents went up by at least 20%. In reality

thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and providing me with an opportunity to update the House. I am replying on behalf of the Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne. Tenancy sustainment, or tenant in situ, is not a stand-alone programme or scheme … priority category under the Department of housing's social housing second-hand acquisitions programme which helps prevent social housing supported households in the private rental sector from becoming homeless. Such acquisitions are an option for local authorities to support households in the most precarious housing situations. They

State for his reply. My natural disposition as a person is to treat people at face value, but ten years in this House has made a bit of a cynic of me. When I see the timed amendment, given the fact that a commitment was made by three … previous Ministers to introduce the social housing passport over a period of 14 years there was clearly plenty of time to have considered those matters. The Minister of State and I also know it is normal for legislation to be passed in this House but for another

Minister of State is probably well aware of the significant concerns of a number of rights-based organisations working directly on housing on the front line, including the statutory body, IHREC, and others. I will outline what they have highlighted as some of the significant concerns about this … Bill. I was not a Deputy during the previous Dáil term when this legislation went to the housing committee. I am looking at it from the perspective of someone who is coming new to these particular proposals. Stepping back and looking at it, I have serious questions

welcome the Bill. As Chair of the housing committee, I am disappointed that some of the cross-party recommendations that were put forward by the committee have not been included in the Bill. The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, which came in on 1 March of this … unlock all those tens of thousands of planning permissions for apartments that have not been built and ultimately provide new housing units. Deputy Stanley made a point with regard to that Bill. This is something I have said publicly as Chair of the committee as well

into the six years his party has been in government. We will go to the working, squeezed middle. We will take an average house as an example. If somebody wanted to buy or build a 2,000 sq. ft house, it would have cost of €240,000 plus … That meant that five or six years ago, that house cost of €272,406. Let us travel forward. Today, five or six years later, that same house costs €454,000, including VAT. The VAT to the Government has gone from €32,400 to €54,000. That

Sinn Féin for bringing this motion before us this evening. I welcome the gentlemen from the Gaeltacht here too this evening. I know housing is a serious issue in Dingle. I have people onto me nearly crying trying to source a house to rent. It is a fact … that many people are going through this day after day. A lot of houses are taken up by tourists. The tourism sector is very important but I am telling the Minister that if we are serious about maintaining and preserving the Irish language, we need to build more

housing crisis that has been the responsibility of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and now the Independents in government is a crisis that is ripping apart the fabric of Irish society. Communities are suffering significantly across the country during this housing crisis. Obviously, those most affected … children at all. We see that in schools, with many not getting the necessary number of children into junior and senior infants. The housing crisis debate in this Chamber has been extremely limited for the past five years. It has been between a Government allergic to the building

debate is about social media clips. It diminishes the seriousness of what is at stake here. I have been a Member of this House since 2011. I was here two or three months when a circular was produced by the then Department of the environment, within which responsibility … housing was a matter for a Minister of State rather than having a Ministry in its own right. That was because we did not then have the homelessness and housing crisis we have now. The need for housing to come under a senior Ministry arose from the housing

want to speak to and support the amendments. The starting point is that, as I have said before in this Chamber, housing is a fundamental human right. I do not think it is a coincidence that there is no mention of housing being a human right … Government's new housing plan, because what is going on in Donegal, Mayo and other counties, including Limerick, Sligo and Clare, shows why housing is a fundamental human right. We have people, children and families living in housing situations that are completely unsustainable, with holes in walls, children

small island off the coast of Ireland, Arranmore Island, and I live in a section of it. Within five minutes of my house was one of my neighbours. He moved to Letterkenny and I moved to the Finn Valley and the two of us had houses. I built … house; he bought his. His house is semi-detached. He has children trying to go to college. His neighbour has knocked down his house. He is not in a position to get it and he would not meet the damage threshold. I have been up at his house

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. After months and months, we finally have the Government's new flagship housing plan. After almost a year in office, we finally see how the Government hopes to bring an end to the housing catastrophe in this country. However, what … plan that scrapped targets, provides no serious pathway to secure affordable homes for ordinary people and is not ambitious enough on social housing. It has nothing new on affordable ownership and it does not even give proper clarity on the role of State bodies like the LDA. This

housing disaster, as the Minister is well aware, is worsening by the day. Unfortunately, the housing plan he and his Government have developed offers very little hope that they are willing to accept the utter failure of this and successive Governments. This housing plan is no radical reset … thousands who will emigrate in the coming years, as they see no future here because they cannot afford the crazy rents or house prices. The Minister is about to deliver a double blow to renters this coming March. What is going to happen is his rental changes will

thank the Deputy for this important question around targets for the delivery of cost-rental and affordable purchase homes by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the LDA under the Government's new housing plan. Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart … Government's housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030. Government is investing an unprecedented level of funding to support new housing delivery, which will underpin the new starter homes programme, delivering an average of 15,000 affordable housing supports annually

thank the House for the opportunity to discuss what is a most important issue to all of us. At the outset, it is important that I clarify a technical piece in relation to protected disclosures and how they work. I am conscious that it was the subject … debate among the leaders last week, which I totally understand, but it is important that the House has clarity on it. The Protected Disclosures Act was agreed by this House without a vote. Everybody supports the idea of it and the purpose of it is to protect whistleblowers

devastating consequences of the housing crisis have seeped into almost every aspect of our lives and are wreaking havoc in almost all aspects of our economy and society. No community has escaped its clutches and barely a family has not felt the brunt of its force. Fianna Fáil … will talk about shortly. The facts are stark. No matter where you turn, the situation is not improving and is, in fact, deteriorating. Housing supply is plummeting and prices have jumped by 36% in the past four years. In some areas, the increase has been as high

will invest in our future while securing the jobs, prosperity and stability of today. It will tackle the serious challenges of meeting our housing and investment needs. At the same time, we are preparing for tomorrow. This budget builds up our resilience and will help us to adapt … health. Our debt ratio is moving in the right direction and has almost halved since I delivered my first budget to the House in 2016. While we should reflect on this progress, of which I believe we can be proud, we also clearly understand that not everyone feels

unit. We have not seen what the LDA has set out but in the estimates set out by the Department of housing, those claims that €100,000 will be saved do not stack up. We have heard clearly from other experts in the private sector who say that … this decision, which will allow developers or investor funds to add more units to a development, will present any reduction in rents or house prices, which is what we are trying to do. I will set out in detail what has been presented by those experts

that has been taken by this Government to protect planning permissions currently in the system as we strive to increase the number of houses delivered in this country. From my point of view, as a younger Member of the House, it is an absolute priority … number of houses being delivered by this Government increasing, especially across north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny, which I represent, but also nationally, where they are so desperately needed for young people looking to get a start in life. For working families who are paying very high rents

wisdom, decided to stop that because he felt that developers were hoarding land, benefiting from time and gaining money without building any house. I hope that does not happen with this. It should be for people who have started or who intend to start and are coming … building the houses. Certainly, it hurt people with one-off houses badly when this extension of time of a second five years, was taken away from them a few years ago and I am glad that something like that is coming back now. Indeed, we have a facility

going to have to get some realism and reality applied to the disastrous situation in which we find ourselves with regard to housing? It is organised mayhem. Every speaker – I had a chat last night with my colleague in south Tipperary – states housing is the number one issue … this regard, consider the whole HAP disaster. Billions of euro have been spent on it that should have been spent on public housing. We lost our way here as well. During the War of Independence, the Custom House was attacked. I do not want anyone to be injured

that the Government and Department do not have? We have common sense. The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, said on the floor of the House last week that the majority of common sense is coming from this corner. Why is that? Why do we know about delivery? Deputy Michael … copy and paste, to business people who know how to deliver. The Government could use our experience to help to deliver houses for people who need them. There is a simple solution: all public housing should be under one plan and materials should be bought in bulk, which

issue in housing is supply. Everything the Government is doing is and will be focused on increasing the supply of houses right across the board. This includes an increased number of social houses. In the last four years, a record 48,000 social houses have been provided … since 2008 has that level of new-build social housing been provided. In addition, we brought in the tenant in situ scheme. Only two months ago, the Minister for housing secured an additional €325 million for that scheme to be used in cases such as that the Deputy

very much welcome the opportunity to speak on what was a groundbreaking report by the Housing Commission. I join in acknowledging the members of that Housing Commission who gave their time and service to the State. While we might not necessarily agree with all the recommendations in that … clap on the back attitude we see from Government week in, week out on its own efforts to meet the huge housing need in our State. We are expected to be grateful and wondrous that social housing output is supposedly back at 1970s levels or back

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency have been given to understand by his Department that they should not include green roofs in housing proposals. [34576/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding the specific mechanisms being used by his Department to address the affordability of housing in the wider Dublin area, where housing is priced at a particularly high level; and if he will make

Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will introduce a mandatory amenity plan for local authorities to put on future housing developments to ensure recreational amenities are introduced alongside all new housing, as outlined in the Programme for Government

Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount allocated to each local authority in 2024 and 2025 under the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with a disability (HAG), the mobility aids grant (MAG), and the housing aid for older

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the annual housing delivery targets currently in place, broken down by tenure including private, social, affordable purchase and cost rental; the methodology used to determine these targets having regard to projected population growth and housing demand

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number and proportion of homes expected to be delivered annually under current policy that will be social housing, affordable purchase and cost rental; whether specific targets have been set for the share of such housing

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of people with a disability who have been housed in each local authority in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of disabled applicants currently on each … local authority housing list, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31668/26

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of new Traveller-specific housing units delivered in each year from 2019 to 2025, with a breakdown for each year by new group housing, major refurbs, new halting site bays, major refurbs

Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that Louth County Council has been required to pause the general acceptance of Housing Adaptation Grants, Mobility Aid Grants and Housing for Older Persons Grants in 2026 due to the level

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total amounts based on current or latest data, of rent arrears owed by social housing tenants in each local authority area; the number of social housing households that the corresponding rent arrears relate

Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the proposed rural housing guidelines; whether consideration is being given to allowing non-farming families to apply for permission for an additional dwelling on their family land, by reasons of close … family ties to an area, increasing the current provision from one to two houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30135/26

Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1127 of 8 September 2025, the outcome of his Departments examination of the report which was commissioned by the Housing Agency to develop options for the revised or new social housing

Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the housing options available to individuals who have been refused admission to their local authority housing list as their income puts them over the threshold, who have been renting long term but must vacate their current

Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage to detail the communication his Department has had with local authorities and approved housing bodies regarding changes to the codes of conduct for local authority and approved housing body tenancies allowing tenants to have pets

Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage his views on whether it is reasonable to expect a person whose income is below the social housing eligibility threshold to pay for accommodation in a hotel or hostel while they are homeless; if there … legislative basis for a local authority to refuse homeless services to a person based on their employment status if they qualify for social housing support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28823/26

Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on plans to introduce a passport for social housing tenants and applicants who have experienced domestic abuse in order that they can seek support immediately from a new local authority if they … need to move for safety reasons and can keep their years on the housing waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28976/26

Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding schemes that are available to approved housing bodies that wish to carry out large-scale conversion projects bringing vacant offices or commercial buildings into residential social housing use; and if he will make

Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of approved housing bodies that have successfully developed social housing through CALF in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28117/26

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Transport whether the Housing Activation Office or anybody with responsibility for housing delivery was consulted during the preparation of the Passenger Capacity Bill 2026 given that the DAA confirmed to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport on 24 March … supply, wastewater treatment, and surface water drainage infrastructure in the Greater Dublin area, which Uisce Éireann has identified as capacity-constrained for new housing connections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25699/26

Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will re-evaluate the situation in which those who inherit their family homes should have their spouses income disregarded upon application for housing aid for older people grant under the housing adaptation grants

Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of supported housing units in east Cork; and the number of supported housing units that are planned. [24942/26

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for commencement and completion of the social housing schemes funded by his Department that were to be included in bundles 4 to 7 of the PPP social housing scheme and the details

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of the social housing benchmarking exercise used in bundles 1, 2 and 3 of the PPP social housing scheme. [25551/26

Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the obligations of owners who purchased affordable housing from local authorities before the Affordable Housing Act 2021 and subsequently rented these properties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25696/26

Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of capital funding streams, including CAS funding, for disability housing projects in County Wicklow; whether additional supports will be made available to approved housing bodies supporting people with disabilities; and if he will make