Written Answers Nos. 264-270
264. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether any policy review has been undertaken regarding access to social housing supports for persons leaving abusive relationships following the sale or transfer of a family home. [38583/26]
View answerIt is open to anyone to apply for social housing support at any stage, subject to meeting the eligibility and need criteria at the point at which they apply. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.
Under Section 20 of the 2009 Act and Regulation 22(1) of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, a household shall be ineligible for social housing support if it has alternative accommodation that the household could reasonably be expected to use to meet its housing need, either by occupying it or by selling the accommodation and using the proceeds to secure suitable accommodation suitable for the household’s adequate housing. However, Regulation 22(2) of the 2011 Regulations provides that this ineligibility does not apply where an applicant for social housing support owns accommodation that is occupied by his or her spouse, from whom he or she is formally separated or divorced.
Local authorities may provide households with social housing support under the Rental Accommodation Scheme or the Housing Assistance Payment scheme until ownership of the family home is resolved in a formal separation or divorce settlement.
A revised Household Means Policy 2026 issued to all local authorities recently. The accompanying Guidance, which sets out how local authorities should assess household means, provides savings are only relevant to the assessment in so far as they generate income for applicant households through dividends or interest.
Decisions on the allocation of social housing support are a matter solely for the local authority concerned. Each application must be considered on its own merits and the individual circumstances taken into account. Local authorities will prioritise allocations to those households they consider to be most in need, which can include victims of domestic violence.
Supporting individuals and families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, including victims and survivors of domestic abuse, is a priority for my Department and the Government. The response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross-Departmental and multi-agency issue, with overall policy coordinated by the Department of Justice. Responsibility for the development and provision of services to support victims rests with my colleague the Minister for Justice working in conjunction with Cuan, the statutory DSGBV agency under the remit of the Department of Justice.
In 2017, my Department issued policy and procedural guidance to local authorities relating to the role they can play to assist victims of domestic violence. The issuing of this 2017 policy and guidance was a significant action in the second national strategy on DSGBV 2016-2021, and has since played an important role in addressing the housing needs of victims and survivors of DSGBV, providing direction to local authorities in supporting victims of domestic violence. It covers a range of scenarios that may arise for victims of domestic violence currently in receipt of social housing support and those seeking social housing supports. These include provisions around the use of the Housing Assistance Payment scheme, or the Rental Accommodation Scheme, where a victim has a joint interest in the family home, or ownership of alternative accommodation, but would otherwise qualify for social housing support.
In June 2022 the Department of Justice published Zero Tolerance, the Third National Strategy on DSGBV 2022-2026. As an action in this strategy, my Department committed to a review of the 2017 Policy and Procedural Guidance for Housing Authorities in relation to assisting victims of domestic violence with emergency and long-term accommodation needs in order to ensure continuing effectiveness and consistency in responses to assist victims of domestic violence. My Department has engaged with Cuan in relation to this review and proposed recommendations arising from the review. Any updates to the policy and guidance will be communicated to local authorities in due course. In the meantime, local authorities operate in accordance with the 2017 Guidance.
265. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has plans to adjust the income thresholds for the housing assistance payment; if he will provide details of those plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38490/26]
View answerThe baseline income thresholds increased by €5,000 for all local authorities with effect from 1 January 2023. The thresholds thus increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for Bands 1, 2 and 3 respectively. These thresholds are net income thresholds, i.e. gross household income less income tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge and Additional Superannuation Contribution. Income is defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy. The Policy provides for a range of income disregards and local authorities also have discretion to disregard income that is once-off, temporary or short-term in nature and which is outside the regular pattern of a person’s annual income.
My Department has been examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and household income conditions, including the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since the standardised income limits were introduced. This includes examining the findings of research commissioned by my Department and this work is ongoing.
I envisage that the analysis will be concluded shortly to facilitate a final determination on next steps. I am also keen to put in place a more structured and frequent process for the review of these limits going forward.
My Department is currently undertaking a review of existing Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) rent limits to ensure there is sufficient support under the HAP scheme to assist eligible households in accessing accommodation in the private rental sector. It is intended that the review process will conclude by end Q2 this year.
266. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will investigate the potential systemic misuse of public funds under the help-to-buy and first home schemes (details supplied); the clawback and auditing mechanisms in place when a developer is found to have secured State funds based on a legally defective certificate of compliance on completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38515/26]
View answerThe primary responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations and Building Control Regulations rests with the designers, builders and owners of buildings. Enforcement of the Building Regulations and Building Control Regulations is delegated under the Building Control Act to the local building control authorities (i.e. the 31 local authorities) who are independent in the exercise of their statutory powers.
In relation to the First Home Scheme, it should be noted that ownership of the property primarily rests with the private purchaser and the conveyancing is handled by the purchaser’s solicitor. It is a matter for the purchaser and their legal advisor to ensure that the certificate of compliance for the property purchased meets all legal requirements.
The Help to Buy scheme comes under the remit of Revenue and the Department of Finance.
267. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the current eligibility criteria for postal voting in elections, particularly in cases where registered electors are unable to vote in person due to pre-arranged personal travel; whether consideration is being given to expanding access to postal or alternative voting methods to ensure greater participation in elections (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38517/26]
View answerElectoral law provides for postal voting for a number of different categories of people. These are:
• whole-time members of the Defence Forces,
• members of An Garda Síochána,
• Irish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses/civil partners,
• electors living at home who are unable to vote because of an illness or a disability,
• electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will be unable to vote in person at their local polling station on polling day,
• full-time students registered at their home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State,
• prisoners, and
• certain election staff employed at the poll outside the constituency where they reside.
In addition, Section 93 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides for anonymous registration and a postal vote where a person’s safety (or a member of their household) may be compromised by publication of their details on the electoral register. Where a person is registered as an anonymous voter, that person is only able to vote by post.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin's research and advisory function enables it to carry out research on electoral policy and procedure. An Coimisiún is also empowered to advise and make recommendations to the Minister and the Government in relation to any proposals for legislative change, or any other policy matters concerning electoral and legislative proposals.
An Coimisiún’s Research Programme 2024-2026, includes a commitment to examine the issue of postal voting. My Department will review this policy area once An Coimisiún has considered and made recommendations on the issue.
268. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of stock audits undertaken in 2025 and 2026 to date, by county, in tabular form. [38602/26]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority social homes, including pre-letting repairs and the re-tenanting of vacant properties, is a matter for each individual local authority under s.58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities must also ensure all tenanted properties comply with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. To this end, local authority elected members and officials must make adequate budgetary provision for housing repairs and cyclical maintenance utilising the significant housing rental income available to them as part of the annual budgetary process.
Notwithstanding local authority responsibilities in this regard, my Department is providing €260 million this year to support the remediation and maintenance of local authority social homes across a range of funding programmes. This includes €40 million under the Planned Maintenance and Voids Programme to support stock condition surveys, planned maintenance works, and the efficient turnaround of vacant local authority owned homes.
More than 15,000 stock condition surveys have been completed to date. These surveys are captured and managed by local authorities through an ICT Asset Management system hosted by the LGMA. They are completed and used primarily by local authorities for the purpose of informing their respective planned maintenance work programmes, and to support the sector's continued transition from a reactive voids approach to a proactive planned cyclical programme of inspection, repair, and replacement.
It is expected all local authority social homes will be surveyed by end-2030 and progress to date, as reported by local authorities via the ICT Asset Management System, is set out in the table below.
|
County |
Total Properties |
Surveys Completed |
Completed Surveys (%) |
|
Carlow |
2,292 |
221 |
9.6% |
|
Cavan |
2,351 |
113 |
4.8% |
|
Clare |
3,277 |
665 |
20.3% |
|
Cork City |
11,850 |
185 |
1.6% |
|
Cork County |
8,197 |
275 |
3.4% |
|
Donegal |
5,244 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
Dublin City |
26,681 |
1,162 |
4.4% |
|
Dun Laoghaire |
5,525 |
913 |
16.5% |
|
Fingal |
7,050 |
170 |
2.4% |
|
Galway City |
2,789 |
200 |
7.2% |
|
Galway County |
3,391 |
65 |
1.9% |
|
Kerry |
4,648 |
393 |
8.5% |
|
Kildare |
6,576 |
181 |
2.8% |
|
Kilkenny |
3,063 |
357 |
11.7% |
|
Laois |
2,430 |
29 |
1.2% |
|
Leitrim |
1,202 |
465 |
38.7% |
|
Limerick |
6,137 |
1,924 |
31.4% |
|
Longford |
2,337 |
71 |
3.0% |
|
Louth |
4,685 |
336 |
7.2% |
|
Mayo |
2,388 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
Meath |
4,835 |
1,886 |
39.0% |
|
Monaghan |
1,989 |
179 |
9.0% |
|
Offaly |
2,249 |
411 |
18.3% |
|
Roscommon |
1,916 |
472 |
24.6% |
|
Sligo |
2,401 |
28 |
1.2% |
|
South Dublin |
10,618 |
2,808 |
26.4% |
|
Tipperary |
5,671 |
207 |
3.7% |
|
Waterford |
6,460 |
370 |
5.7% |
|
Westmeath |
2,532 |
63 |
2.5% |
|
Wexford |
5,549 |
764 |
13.8% |
|
Wicklow |
5,686 |
404 |
7.1% |
|
Total |
162,019 |
15,317 |
9.5% |
269. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to give consideration to the importance of tourism in County Kerry and especially Killarney town by reconsidering the short-term lets policy; to allow a waiver for the proprietors of short-term lets who are in business three years or longer in relation to the need to apply for planning permission to be allowed continue with their short-term lets livelihoods; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38617/26]
View answerThe Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) has drafted the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme in full alignment with the EU Short Term Rental Regulation. The introduction of the STLT Bill will provide a more effective legal and administrative basis to regulate short term lettings. This Bill when enacted will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register for all Short Term Lettings in Ireland, which will be implemented and managed by Fáilte Ireland. In line with the proposed introduction of DETE’s STLT Bill, all short-term letting accommodation providers will be required to register with Fáilte Ireland, as part of the registration process, accommodation providers will need to confirm that they are planning compliant.
Government has approved a threshold-based approach to generally preclude new planning permissions for short-term lets in larger towns and cities. Further to this, the Cabinet Committee on Housing have proposed that the threshold be set at towns and cities with a population in excess of 20,000, amounting to twenty five towns at the most recent Census of Population. It is intended that accommodation providers in all other locations, i.e. outside the largest towns and cities, will be able to avail of an extended period to meet planning compliance requirements.
Furthermore, in line with existing established rights, where it can be proven that a residential property has been operated by a short-term letting accommodation provider for at least seven years and no enforcement action has been taken by the planning authority, planning permission for retention may be sought to regularise an established but unauthorised use.
To ensure that there is a clear view, both at national level and local authority level, as to the overall policy approach to determining planning applications for short-term lets, my Department is currently finalising a National Planning Statement (NPS) on Short-Term Letting to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill. The preparation of the draft NPS is largely complete, with the NPS being informed by the work of a Working Group (comprising my Department, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the County and City Management Association) and further engagement with relevant stakeholders.
270. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will confirm if ECCE-only childcare services are liable for commercial rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38671/26]
View answerTailte Éireann is an independent Government agency and provides a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Tailte Éireann is independent in the exercise of its valuation functions under the Valuation Act 2001, as amended (the Act), and I, as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, have no function in decisions in this regard.
Tailte Éireann has overall responsibility under the Act, for the maintenance of all Valuation Lists used by Local Authorities in the calculation of rates liability. Under the Act, all property is rateable unless it falls into one of the exempt categories listed in Schedule 4 of the Act. There is a very specific range of exemptions that can be applied, and Tailte Éireann has no discretionary latitude to grant exemptions not covered by Schedule 4.
In general, the Act, maintains the long-standing position that all properties of occupiers that operate with the intention of making a profit are rateable.
It is understood from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth that the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme is a universal free two-year preschool programme available to all children within the eligible age range.
The Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015 introduced paragraph 22 to Schedule 4 of the Act which refers specifically to early childhood care and education facilities. This paragraph provides an exemption for childcare providers that exclusively provide early childhood care and education and are established and operated on a not-for-profit basis.
Paragraph 22 of Schedule 4 of the Act provides an exemption for:
“Any land, building or part of a building used exclusively for the provision of early childhood care and education, and occupied by a body which is not established and the affairs of which are not conducted for the purpose of making a private profit.”
Paragraph 22 of Schedule 4 of the Act provides that early childhood care and education facilities that are established and operated on a not-for-profit basis are exempt from rates; it does not provide a general exemption from rates for all childcare or childminding facilities operating on a for-profit basis. To avoid ambiguity, if an early childhood care and education facility is established and operated on a for-profit basis, then it does not fulfil the criteria for exemption under Paragraph 22.
As a matter of course, Tailte Éireann examines all properties on their individual merits by reference to the relevant statutory provisions governing the operation of the Act and case law arising from the independent Valuation Tribunal and the Higher Courts.
There are a number of avenues of redress for an occupier of rateable property who is dissatisfied with a determination of valuation by Tailte Éireann made under the provisions of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. Firstly, before a determination is made, there is a right to make representations to Tailte Éireann in relation to a proposed valuation. Later in the process, if the occupier is still dissatisfied with the determination, there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal which is an independent body set up for the purpose of hearing appeals against determinations of Tailte Éireann. There is a right of appeal to the Higher Courts on a point of law.
Under Irish law there is a distinct separation of functions between the valuation of rateable property and the setting and collection of commercial rates. The commercial rates payable on a particular property is a product of the valuation of that property determined by Tailte Éireann multiplied by the “Annual Rate on Valuation” (ARV) which is set annually by the elected members of the local authority as part of its budgetary process. The billing and collection of rates is solely a matter for the relevant local authority. Tailte Éireann has no function in that regard.
