Housing Policy

507. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the supports available to families buying their second home due to the need for additional space but cannot do so due to the cost of finance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32180/25]

508. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the merits of amending existing first-time buyer supports in cases whereby one member of a couple is a first-time buyer but the other has purchased a property previously; if this can be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32181/25]

737. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will introduce the regulations dealing with service charges and sinking funds; and if the Housing Agency will have enough resources in 2026 in order that it can commence regulating the OMC sector as promised in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31289/25]

749. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on plans to introduce a right-sizing policy, if this will include local authority tenants. [29070/25]

750. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason people who are applying for cost rental are not required to disclose their profession; if his Department has committed to ring-fencing cost rental for teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29082/25]

751. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to ring-fence cost rental properties for teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29083/25]

832. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if consideration has been given to increasing the income threshold for cost rental housing outside of Dublin, in particular taking into consideration the number of dependents that are in a household; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30045/25]

839. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will commit to taking full legislative responsibility of the multi-unit development sector into his brief before Summer recess; if he will implement the regulations to tackle service charges and sinking funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30302/25]

841. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the regulations on service charges and sinking funds for multi-unit developments which were drafted in February 2022; the reason for the delay in their implementation; and whether a timeline will now be provided to ensure that these regulations are in place before the end of 2025, as referenced in t…

850. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if regulations dealing with service charges and sinking funds, which were drafted in 2022, will be implemented before the end of 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30463/25]

860. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the income criteria for cost rental will be reviewed in line with the Programme for Government commitment to ensure sufficient cohorts of tenants will qualify for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30627/25]

861. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to the Programme for Government Commitment to earmark certain cost rental units for key local workers to outline the progress that has been made on this to date; to define a key local worker; the key local workers that will qualify; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30628/25]

869. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the progress to date in ensuring that regulations on service charges and sinking funds, which were drafted by the Housing Agency in February 2022, will be issued by the end of 2025 [30671/25]

397. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider reviewing Government’s acquisition cost guidelines for Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28830/25]

398. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he can outline plans to support the tenant-in-situ scheme via funding and also through the eligibility criteria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28831/25]

236. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans he has to change the regulations for small dwellings, such a portacabins to be built in people’s gardens; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28469/25]

243. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage that further steps that his Department is taking to support homeownership for people under the age of 30; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27897/25]

282. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when easing of planning regulations to allow for larger unattached structures to be built in peoples back gardens are expected to be in place; the size that will be enforced; the provisions that will be in place for an individual who breaches these planning laws; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2…

356. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 512 of 25 February 2025, his views on whether it is consistent with the aims of the Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy, namely that whether on welfare, in employment or a combination of both, a person can be assured of a minimum basic income and a person in employme…

359. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has considered that income limits for social housing eligibility act as a “welfare cliff” (details supplied) that disincentivise eligible individuals from taking up employment or applying for promotion. [26723/25]

360. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any engagements with his colleagues in the Department of Social Protection or the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment regarding the impact of social housing income limits on the behaviours of individuals who are on the housing list or preparing to apply for the list; if, in pa…

361. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline, given that social housing is a key part of the architecture of social protection in Ireland, his views on whether his Department’s approach to social housing income limits is consistent with the aims of the Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy; namely, that whether on welfare, in employment or…

362. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any research, completed or ongoing, concerning the impact of social housing income limits on the behaviours of individuals who are on the housing list or preparing to apply for the list; whether, in particular, the limits disincentivise taking up employment or applying for payments to whic…

363. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether legislation will be progressed indexing income limits for social housing eligibility to either inflation, the minimum wage, the median wage, average industrial wage, or lower quartile wage to reflect the decline in purchasing power over time of incomes that were previously considered to be too hi…

364. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that there are income gaps in the available housing schemes operated by his Department and by local authorities whereby a person’s income may be too high for social housing eligibility and at the same time too low for any available cost rental options or to take advantage of schemes for fi…