Written Answers Nos. 324-340
328. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to give serious consideration to acquiring the Balcarrick Martello Tower, Donabate which is a recorded National Monument and heritage site in private ownership that has recently been put up for sale on the open market which is of huge importance to the Donabate and wider Fingal area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68641/25]
View answerMy Department acquires properties of architectural heritage, which are either of national or strategic importance, from time to time as resources and opportunities allow. Usually this is in the interests of the preservation, conservation and management of such properties. Possible acquisitions, including Balcarrick Martello Tower are considered within the context of available resources which includes public expenditure management considerations, as well as the ongoing maintenance of monuments carried out in State care by the Office of Public Works.
In all cases, my Department assesses potential acquisitions carefully, taking into consideration similar existing properties within the national monument portfolio, any conservation works required, and the cost of acquisition and maintenance over the short and longer term to the Exchequer. Accordingly, my Department is only ever in a position to make a very limited number of acquisitions as all related expenditure must be met from within existing voted allocations.
329. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the details of the recently extended pyrite remediation scheme will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68642/25]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and the implementation of the Pyrite Remediation Scheme, which is administered by the Board with the support of the Housing Agency.
The provisions of the Act apply solely to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave, resulting from the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material. The Scheme was established to remediate such dwellings where the swelling of hardcore beneath ground floor slabs has caused structural damage.
In November, the Government approved widening the Scheme to provide for applications for dwellings that potentially have a Damage Condition Rating of 1 (DCR1) with progression, giving full effect to the commitment made in the Programme for Government. Previously only dwellings with the most significant pyritic damage as defined in I.S. 398-1: 2017, as Category D and with a Damage Condition Rating of 2 were eligible for remediation.
The amended Pyrite Remediation Scheme 2025 has been agreed by the Pyrite Resolution Board and was recently submitted to my Department. I expect to be in a position to approve it in the near future and that the scheme will be published shortly thereafter. This will then give effect to the Government Decision.
The amended scheme also includes an end date for the accepting of applications to the scheme of 30 November 2026. The Scheme amendments ensure that homeowners experiencing progressive pyritic damage can now access the scheme, in line with the original intent of the legislation.
330. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the updated changes to the defective building block remediation scheme will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68643/25]
View answerThe Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) commenced on 22 June 2023 which contains the current grant scheme and the related Regulations were adopted on 29 June 2023.
The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 was published on 2 December 2025 and the published Bill can be viewed at the Oireachtas website at the link provided here: https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2025/75/eng/initiated/b7525d.pdf. Following this the Bill was initiated in the Dáil and the second stage occurred on the same day.
The Bill includes details of the wider group of relevant owners that can avail of increases in the grant scheme cap and rates approved in October and November 2024. The Bill also includes other technical amendments to ensure the continued smooth operation of the grant scheme for homeowners.
This legislation is being progressed as expeditiously as possible.
331. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of the grades of oifigigh forbartha Gaeilge in each of the local authorities, in tabular form; if he will consider raising the grades of all oifigigh forbartha Gaeilge to Grade 7, a management level which would enable oifigigh to do their work in an effective manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68681/25]
View answerMy Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis. However, granular data, in terms of the grades of staff assigned to specific work areas in each local authority, is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department. The relevant information would be available from each local authority.
Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible including the grading structure within the local authority.
332. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of major infrastructure projects that experienced delays arising from Environmental Impact Assessment or Appropriate Assessment processes in each of the past five years; the average length of delay recorded at screening and full assessment stages; and his Department's systems used to track these delays. [68743/25]
View answerThe information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
333. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has prepared a full delivery schedule to meet the stated target of 12,000 new social homes per year; and if he will provide the year-by-year and quarter-by-quarter milestones for 2026, 2027 and 2028. [68744/25]
View answerThe Government's new Housing Plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities aims to deliver 300,000 new homes in the period to 2030, including 72,000 social homes. The Plan seeks to significantly scale-up delivery of new build social homes over the coming years, increasing from an average of 8,000 or so homes a year at present to an average of 12,000 per year.
Under the new Plan each local authority will prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan (HDAP) setting out their planned delivery of social and affordable housing out to 2030 in line with targets which will be set by my Department in order to ensure the 72,000 social homes will be delivered by 2030. My Department will be communicating with local authorities in this regard in Q1 2026.
It should be noted that existing HDAPs run to the end of 2026 and it is expected that new HDAPs, which will run to 2030, will be in place by Q3/Q4 2026. The development of local authority HDAP’s will be undertaken in collaboration with delivery partners, including the Land Development Agency, Approved Housing Bodies, and the development sector. Each local authority’s implementation of the Starter Homes Programme, will be informed by local need, as identified by the Housing Needs and Demand Assessment framework, taking into account the need to provide the right mix of homes within their area. Planned social housing delivery will have regard to need as identified from their social housing waiting list.
My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority, on a local authority basis. Data on social housing delivery against targets is also published. This data is available to the end of Q2 2025 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.
My Department also publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR), which provides details of social housing developments, their location and their funding programme that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 2 2025. All CSRs are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/.
A version of the CSR file can also be downloaded for analysis by local authority, location etc. at this link: https://data.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q2-2025.
334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has completed any assessment of the staffing, technical and financial resources required by local authorities to achieve the 12,000-unit annual target; and if he will provide his Department's internal modelling for required engineering, planning, procurement and project-management capacity. [68745/25]
View answerDelivering Homes, Building Communities commits to supporting local authorities by financially supporting fully resourced and ring fenced housing delivery teams in each authority focused exclusively on new build social and affordable housing projects. This builds on the commitment in Housing for All to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects.
Following extensive work undertaken to identify the additional capital staff resources required by local authorities to deliver the social housing targets set out in Housing for All, funding was approved for 250 technical and administrative housing posts in local authorities nationally to support social housing delivery.
My Department has also worked with the Housing Delivery Coordination Office and the County and City Management Association to identify additional staffing resources required by local authorities to support affordable housing delivery programmes. Funding provision has been made and sanction granted for a complement of 140.5 additional specialist and administrative positions across 27 local authorities to help ramp up affordable housing delivery. These posts are solely dedicated to affordable housing delivery and equip local authorities with increased levels of in-house expertise in key areas such as design, procurement, surveying, engineering and administration.
The City & County Management Association (CCMA) is currently leading on a dedicated working group focused on determining what additional local authority staffing resources may be required to deliver on social and affordable new build housing delivery targets to 2030. The working group was established earlier this year between the sector and the Department and is expected to report on its initial findings in Q1 2026.
Engagement with the CCMA group will ensure a comprehensive and strategic overview of national and individual requirements to ensure local authorities have sufficient resources to deliver on the Delivering Homes Building Communities Plan.
My Department is also currently working on a number of measures to increase staffing levels in the local government planning sector. In this regard, my Department is collaborating with the Local Government Management Agency on the delivery of a programme of supports to planning authorities. These supports include the provision of staffing resources and expertise to enable planning authorities to perform their functions efficiently and effectively.
In October 2023, my Department conveyed approval to the filling of an initial 100 posts, subsequently increased to 101 posts, in the local authority planning sector under the first tranche of a programme of supports for planning resources. A further approval issued in January 2025 for 56 graduate planner posts and 56 staff officer posts to support the Planning function within local authorities.
Consideration is currently being given to a business case received by the LGMA for a phase 3 of supports for further planning positions within the local government sector which will include a summer internship programme in 2026. Discussions are ongoing in this regard.
On 15 October 2024, my Department published a Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources to respond to capacity challenges in the planning sector. This Action Plan provides a detailed roadmap to increase the pool of planning and related expertise needed to ensure a planning system fit for future needs. It sets out 14 high-level actions that provide a coordinated pathway to ensure a sustainable pipeline of planning and related expertise into the future, addressing the areas of education, recruitment and retention, as well as measures to encourage greater innovation and efficiency.
It should be noted that, under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible including progressing appointments that have been sanctioned by my Department as appropriate. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels.
335. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions taken to ensure alignment of zoning, serviced land, water capacity and planning permissions with the 12,000-unit annual social housing target; and if he will provide any internal reports or delivery forecasts assessing this alignment. [68746/25]
View answerThe Revised National Planning Framework (NPF) was finalised and approved by Government and the Oireachtas in April 2025. The Revised NPF identifies the need to plan for approximately 50,000 additional households per annum to 2040.
The Revised NPF provides the basis for the review and updating of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) and local authority development plans to reflect such critical matters such as updated housing figures or projected jobs growth, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes.
To ensure that local authority development plans reflect the requirements of the NPF in respect of housing as soon as possible, I issued the NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements Guidelines under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in July 2025. These Guidelines set out the housing demand scenario to 2040 for each local authority, by translating the NPF housing requirements into average annual figures and set out the requirement for planning authorities to commence the process of varying their development plan to meet the new housing growth requirements.
In addition to the baseline housing growth requirement, planning authorities have also been requested to address the scope for additional provision of up to 50% in excess of the baseline housing growth requirement, in light of the urgent need to increase housing delivery and to optimise the ability to deliver on the housing requirements of the Revised NPF. This approach recognises the fact that, for a variety of reasons, a relatively significant proportion of zoned lands are not activated over the period of a development plan.
Planning authorities are currently assessing their current development plan and undertaking a review of the adequacy of existing zoned lands to cater for the new Housing Growth Requirement figures and the potential for ‘additional provision’.
The zoning of land for particular purposes, including housing, is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their overall statutory plan function generally as part of a development plan under sections 9 to 13 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended), but can at present also be carried out as part of a local area plan (LAP) process. The making of a development plan or an LAP is a reserved function of the elected members of each authority.
The Housing Needs and Demand Assessment provides evidence-based insights into housing needs across all tenures analysing demographic trends, affordability data and housing stock pressures. This framework allows local authorities to make informed decisions about future housing requirements. Following a comprehensive Housing Needs and Demand Assessment, all local authorities developed and published their Housing Delivery Action Plans setting out their plans to deliver social and affordable housing during the period from 2022-2026. Updated Housing Delivery Action Plans will be developed by each local authority in 2026 to outline delivery of social and affordable housing out to 2030.
336. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current national level of local authority housing units classified as non-lettable for more than 12 months; and the proportion of these units requiring structural versus minor refurbishment works. [68749/25]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, is a matter for each individual local authority under s.58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities are also obliged to ensure all tenanted properties comply with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.
While data regarding the number of voids are not routinely collated by my Department, statistics in relation to social homes, at a point in time, are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including levels of vacancy in local authority owned properties. The most recent report relating to 2024 is available at: www.noac.ie/noac_publications/report-77-noac-performance-indicator-report-2024/.
Any further information, including the number of homes deemed non-lettable for more than 12 months or the relative share of these units that require structural or minor refurbishment works, should be sought directly from local authorities.
337. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of technical, engineering, and planning posts sanctioned for each local authority in 2023, 2024, and 2025; the number recruited; and the number still unfilled as of the most recent reporting date. [68750/25]
View answer[Attachment omitted]
338. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department maintains real-time tracking of housing delivery bottlenecks across local authorities; and if he will publish the three most common causes of delay identified in 2023, 2024, and 2025. [68751/25]
View answerTimeframes for delivery can be impacted by a number of factors including construction material costs, supply chain issues and the impacts of interest rate movements. At a local level, complexities such as legal issues, retendering projects, reviewing the viability of projects, infrastructure challenges and judicial review of planning permissions can also have an impact.
As sponsoring agencies, it is the responsibility of local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to progress projects through the project lifecycle. My Department remains committed to supporting projects which are put forward and deal with submissions in a timely and efficient manner but does not collate the information requested. Specific details in relation to delays on individual projects should be available from the respective local authority.
In relation to social housing delivery, my Department publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR), which provides details of social housing developments, their location and their funding programme that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 2 2025. All CSRs are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/.
339. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the expected date for the publication of the first productivity indicators for residential construction, including those relating to Modern Methods of Construction; and the timeline for updating these indicators annually. [68820/25]
View answerConstruction: A National Accounts Perspective 2024 was published by the Central Statistics Office in September 2025 and is available here: www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/fp/fp-cnap/constructionanationalaccountsperspective2024/productivity/.
This provides the labour productivity for construction of buildings.
The development of productivity indicators is the policy remit of the Minister for Enterprise Tourism and Employment and the Central Statistics Office.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the new National Housing Plan to 2030, contains a range of actions to increase skills and support Modern Methods of Construction building on the initiatives already in place.
Under Delivering Homes, Building Communities, my Department has commenced work on the recent collection of MMC data in the Building Control Management System which will be used to inform future policy. This data is currently undergoing validation and quality assurance processing. Publication of this data will be subject to the completion of these processes.
340. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the annual average and median decision timelines for SHD and LRD applications in each of the past five years, by local authority; and the average and median timelines for planning appeal and judicial reviews. [68821/25]
View answerThe information requested is not held by my Department.
An Coimisiún Pleanála (the Commission) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.
Annual statistics can be found on the Commission’s website here:
www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/statistics/annual-statistics
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Coimisiún Pleanála in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie
