Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
264. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions he will take to ensure that the projected rise in housing completions to 37,000 in 2026 is achieved, given that output is conditional on progress in delivering enabling infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4951/26]
View answerDelivering Homes, Building Communities seeks to significantly accelerate delivery of new homes by focusing on activating land and creating the optimal environment to encourage housing activity – including regulatory reform, tax incentives and the largest ever capital investment in the history of the State, with €275 billion invested in infrastructure over ten years through the National Development Plan.
The delivery of housing is at the centre of the updated National Development Plan, published in July last year, which provides for unprecedented levels of investment for housing and water infrastructure with overall investment of €40.5bn provided for housing and related water services to 2030. Furthermore, a record level of investment is being provided for the delivery of housing in 2026 with overall capital funding of over €9 billion announced in Budget 2026.
Alongside this, the revised National Planning Framework (NPF) approved in April last year is a major step forward, and will help increase capacity and accelerate home building across the country. In July 2025, I issued Guidelines instructing local authorities to update housing targets in line with the revised NPF. The new Guidelines set out the need to plan for approximately 55,000 additional households per annum on average to 2040, enabling zoning for a total of 83,000 units per annum, while the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2025 is essential legislation to deal with expiring planning permissions and to encourage activation of housing.
Furthermore, the Housing Activation Office (HAO) is now established and includes experts seconded from Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the local government sector, in addition to senior officials reassigned from within the Department.
I launched the first Call of the new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) on 21st January 2026, inviting applications for grant funding to support direct investment in critical housing infrastructure projects. This initial Call focuses on advanced infrastructure projects that can be delivered in the 2026–2028 timeframe and activate the early delivery of housing. All Local Authorities and the LDA have been invited to submit applications by 27th February 2026.
The HIIF will be managed by the Housing Activation Office and seek to complement investment by infrastructure agencies, such as Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks, as part of a more coordinated approach. This joined-up approach will help accelerate housing delivery by unblocking infrastructure constraints and ensuring that investment is targeted to where it can have the greatest impact.
My Department will continue to develop the HIIF and intends to broaden its scope in 2026 to include a wider range of public and private sector delivery partners. The primary aim is to build a rolling programme of investment that addresses obstacles to the delivery of housing.
The HAO will also continue to work with all relevant stakeholders, including local authorities, to coordinate the delivery of infrastructure projects needed to unlock housing development on sites nationwide.
