Housing Schemes

678. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the shift from an acquisition tenant in situ target approach in 2024 to a capped funding allocation in 2025 is intended to reduce social housing acquisitions overall; and if so, the alternative strategies in place to meet the housing needs of those threatened with homelessness; and if he will make a…

679. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the criteria which will be used to determine which councils receive support under the tenant in situ scheme; whether Dublin Fingal will receive sufficient funding to continue protecting tenants at risk of losing their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14781/26]

407. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of tenant-in-situ acquisitions completed nationally in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025; the number approved but not yet completed; and the number of applications refused or withdrawn in each year. [13856/26]

462. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his plans to revise and increase the help-to-buy limit of €500,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11763/26]

781. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to reform and expand eligibility for the secure tenancy affordable rent scheme; the timeframe for any proposed change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11761/26]

807. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total amount allocated to each local authority for tenant-in-situ in 2024 and 2025; the total amount spent by each local authority, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12325/26]

812. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of successful applications up to and including January 31, 2026 for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, by county; and the number of unsuccessful applicants and the amount in funds released to date under the scheme, in tabular form. [12499/26]

407. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when his Department will provide a directive to local authorities to increase the fresh start mortgage initiative, in line with rising property prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11153/26]

409. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether eligibility for the local authority home loan adequately accounts for demonstrated repayment capacity, particularly in cases where applicants are single-income households due to illness or disability; and if he will outline any plans to revise assessment criteria to ensure that households with susta…

410. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he acknowledges that single-income households are routinely offered lower loan amounts and less favourable terms by commercial lenders, notwithstanding repayment capacity; and whether the local authority home loan scheme is intended to address this market failure; and if he will make a statement on the m…

411. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he has examined the interaction between disability-related income supports and eligibility for the local authority home loan, in circumstances where the withdrawal of a disability allowance results in a household being treated as single-income and subsequently excluded from affordable credit schemes…

412. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he considers it equitable that a modest disability allowance may be counted as income for means-testing purposes in some contexts, yet the absence of that payment results in households being excluded from affordability supports such as the local authority home loan; if he will review this apparent incons…

413. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the risk assessment underpinning the local authority home loan distinguishes between lack of repayment capacity and changed household circumstances arising from long-term illness or disability; and if not, whether he will commit to refining this distinction; and if he will make a statement on the ma…

414. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify whether the local authority home loan is intended solely for households unable to access credit at all, or whether it is also designed to support households who can access credit only on unsustainable or significantly less favourable terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11233/26…

415. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has conducted, or plans to conduct, a review of groups disproportionately excluded from the local authority home loan, including households affected by disability or long-term illness; and if so, when this review will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11234/26]

416. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he acknowledges that households who were compelled to sell their home following the onset of a spouse's disability or long-term illness may be excluded from the fresh start principle and other housing supports through no fault of their own; whether a review of this cohort will be undertaken; and if …

418. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reasons domiciliary care allowance is treated as household income for the purposes of assessing eligibility and contribution levels under the housing assistance payment scheme; whether he acknowledges that this places an additional financial burden on families caring for children with disabilities; if he will…

422. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he accepts that treating income earned by local authority tenants under the tenant rent-a-room scheme as reckonable for the purposes of calculating differential rent significantly reduced participation in the scheme; whether this impact was assessed prior to the scheme’s introduction; and whether he will …

423. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department carried out any formal impact assessment, cost-benefit analysis or behavioural modelling prior to the roll-out of the tenant rent-a-room scheme for local authority tenants; and, if not, how the Department satisfied itself that the scheme would deliver additional housing supply in practice. …

424. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of additional rooms his Department projected would be made available nationally under the tenant rent-a-room scheme at the time of its launch; the number of rooms actually delivered during the first twelve months of operation; and whether the scale of any shortfall has been examined at departmental lev…

198. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) rent limits have not been increased since July 2016, despite significant rises in market rents during that period; the rationale for maintaining these limits at 2016 levels; his views on an organisation’s (details supplied) confirmation that the HAP limits were las…

200. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to extend the development contributions waiver scheme for houses commenced after 31 December 2024 for one-off housing and self-build housing. [10663/26]

201. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to increase the maximum market value purchase ceiling under the local authority home loan in County Cork from €330,000 to €450,000, to align with the current ceiling under the first home scheme, as the existing limit is resulting in many purchasers who have received loan approval from the local authority being un…

181. Deputy John Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of people who availed of the help-to-buy scheme in Galway in 2025; if he plans to review the current price thresholds for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9557/26]

205. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will increase the house price ceiling to qualify for the help-to-buy-scheme. [10093/26]