Written Answers Nos. 426-439
426. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the key measures taken to enhance water services since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53477/26]
View answerWater services play an essential role in enabling economic growth, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and the delivery of our housing need.
Securing safe and reliable water supply is a top priority for the Government, as is securing water to facilitate the development at pace and at scale of homes in all parts of the country.
Both our water and wastewater systems require substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the quality and resilience standards required of a modern service; to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change.
This Government is delivering a sustainable funding path to further enhance the ongoing significant improvements in our water services and water quality, which is set out in the Sectoral Investment Plan: Water Services and Water Quality published in November 2025 and can be found at:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/ndp-sectoral-investment-plan-water-services-and-water-quality/
427. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the key measures taken to support right-sizing since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53478/26]
View answerGovernment is committed to increasing housing available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence and to supporting rightsizing on a voluntary basis. Delivering Homes, Building Communities, includes measures which will increase delivery of housing for older people through increased delivery of social housing, increased delivery of more suitable homes and choice in private housing and increased choice to support voluntary rightsizing. Delivering Homes, Building Communities also includes a commitment to develop an action plan on delivering housing for older people and this plan is currently under preparation.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities will also increase choice for older people to voluntarily rightsize through advancing consideration of the availability of bridging finance to support rightsizing, a review of the operation of existing local authority financial contribution schemes and supporting social housing tenants who wish to rightsize to more suitable accommodation.
As part of the work being progressed, I am pleased to welcome the recent positive announcement by the Central Bank that it is amending the mortgage measures to exempt certain types of bridging loans from the Loan-to-Income (LTI) limit that applies to lending for principal home purposes. This will assist in supporting voluntary rightsizing where older people choose to purchase a new home prior to concluding the sale of their existing home.
Under Delivering Homes, Building Communities, each local authority will prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan (HDAP) setting out their planned delivery of social and affordable housing to 2030 in line with their targets. In preparing their HDAP, each local authority will reflect local need to ensure the right mix of homes to respond to need and priorities, including housing for older people for whom targets for the period 2027-2030 will be agreed with each local authority.
My Department supports the delivery of housing for older people with funding available from a range of delivery programmes within my Department for both local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to advance projects to provide for this category in line with the need identified within the local authorities Housing Delivery Action Plans. My Department’s Design Manual for Quality Housing, which is available on my Department’s website, provides guidance and designs for new public housing construction and has a number of designs to support the delivery of age-friendly housing.
The range of funding models supporting delivery of social housing includes the Social Housing Capital Investment Programme (SHCIP), Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS). Under the Capital Assistance Scheme up to 100% capital funding is provided to AHBs to provide new social homes for priority categories to include homeless, disability and housing for older people.
428. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the key measures taken to boost overall housing supply since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53479/26]
View answerSince taking office, the Government is fully focused on increasing the national housing stock and ensuring that a suitable range of housing is available to all.
The Government published a new housing action plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, on 13 November 2025. The implementation of the actions set out in the plan will see the delivery of 300,000 new homes over its lifetime, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports.
Pillar 1 of the new plan, which deals with activating housing supply, will see a range of actions implemented over the lifetime of the plan. These are aimed at activating more land, providing more housing-related infrastructure, securing more development finance for home building, addressing viability challenges, particularly in apartment delivery, increasing the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction, improving labour skills in the residential construction sector, and working towards ending dereliction and vacancy.
The delivery of housing is at the centre of the updated National Development Plan, published in July 2025, with an unprecedented level of investment of €40.5bn provided for housing and related water services to 2030.
Budget 2026 provided over €9 billion in capital funding through my Department, the Land Development Agency (LDA) and the Housing Finance Agency to finance the building of new social and affordable homes.
The revised National Planning Framework (NPF) was approved in April 2025 to 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. All 31 local authorities have made or are making variations to their development plans to zone more land for housing.
Significant progress has been made on the implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024. The first phase of commencements provided for the establishment of An Coimisiún Pleanála and introduced provisions for reformed planning judicial review. The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 was enacted before the 2025 summer recess to deal with expiring planning permissions and to encourage activation of housing. In October and December 2025, further milestones were reached, with the full commencement of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2024.
The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2006, which will further support commencement of the the Planning and Development Act 2024, will finish all stages in the Oireachtas before the 2026 summer recess.
I established the Housing Activation Office (HAO) in April 2025 to ensure a radical step change in housing supply. Since its establishment, the Office has engaged extensively both formally and informally with various stakeholders to identify and address infrastructure barriers to housing delivery. In June of this year, I announced that 82 infrastructure projects will be supported in the first phase of the €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) programme. The approved projects will directly unlock lands with the capacity to deliver 86,000 new homes and indirectly unlock lands for a potential further 113,000 homes.
Comprehensive reforms of the rental sector were introduced in March 2026, which are helping to stimulate increased development of apartments over the longer-term.
The Government's and my focus for the remainder of 2026 will continue to be on the implementation of the actions of Delivering Homes, Building Communities, and closely monitoring apartment investment, as well as planning, commencement and housing completion activity to inform ongoing policy consideration.
Further information on activating housing supply is available at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/enabling-more-housing/#activating-supply
I have also just published a Mid Year Progress Report 2026 on the implementation of Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/delivering-homes-building-communities-2025-2030-mid-year-progress-report/
429. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a report on the work of the Housing Activation Office since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53480/26]
View answerThe Housing Activation Office (HAO) has been operational for over a year and is coordinating and accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure required to unlock housing on sites nationwide.
The office works with a range of key stakeholders to identify and resolve infrastructure constraints, align investment and progress infrastructure projects that unlock housing. This includes ongoing regular engagement with the 31 local authorities, infrastructure agencies and industry.
In November 2025, I convened a Housing Activation Delivery Group comprising senior leaders from Government Departments and infrastructure agencies to support the work of the Housing Activation Office and strengthen coordination. I also convened a Housing Activation Industry Group to ensure close coordination with industry representative bodies so that the momentum across infrastructure and housing delivery is maintained. These groups continue to meet on a quarterly basis, and last met on July 1st 2026.
On 21 January 2026, the Government launched a new multiannual €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund to support direct investment in housing enabling infrastructure. The fund is managed by the Housing Activation Office in my Department.
The core objective of the HIIF is to unblock infrastructure constraints and activate lands that are identified for housing development. By investing directly in transport, water, electricity and other enabling infrastructure, the fund will ensure that land is properly serviced and ready to deliver homes.
Call 1 of the HIIF opened for applications from local authorities and the Land development Agency (LDA) on 21 January 2026 and closed on Friday 27 February 2026. A total of 138 applications were received under Call 1 from 30 Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency. Following a detailed assessment process led by the Housing Activation Office, 82 projects have been approved for inclusion in the HIIF programme under Call 1.
A full list of projects accepted to the HIIF programme has been published and is available at: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/9d47d273/Housing_Infrastructure_Investment_Fund_Call_1_-_List_of_Projects.pdf
The HAO team will work directly with local authorities and the Land Development Agency to progress the projects and will also work with critical utilities such as Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks to ensure complementary investment in water and energy in tandem with the delivery of the 82 projects.
The HAO will continue to develop the HIIF and intends to broaden its scope 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 initial focus of the HAO has been on local activation, and the focus will now broaden to include a more strategic phase of work. This includes the identification of larger and more transformative infrastructure investments that are required to support housing delivery at scale.
431. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the specific pathways that exist for people with intellectual disabilities who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to access appropriate housing, care and support; the way in which his Department co-ordinates with the HSE, disability services, local authorities and homeless service providers in such cases; whether there is a dedicated protocol for people with intellectual disabilities in homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53582/26]
View answerMy Department jointly published the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 and Implementation Plan with the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality. The Strategy and Implementation Plan may be accessed at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/60d76-national-housing-strategy-for-disabled-people-2022-2027/
The Implementation Plan sets out the actions to achieve the vision of the joint Strategy for delivering housing and related supports for disabled people to 2027, operating under the new housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 recognises that homelessness is the single most pressing social issue and introduces a number of key measures to address homelessness. Prevention of homelessness in the first instance is an absolute priority. There are many preventions initiatives already underway in my own Department and across Government. This includes the provision of social and affordable housing, the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and homeless HAP, and strong tenancy protection legislation. My Department is committed to developing a national Homelessness Prevention Framework within which homelessness can be prevented in a structured and planned way with tailored prevention measures for each potential at risk cohort. This Framework will be in place in 2026.
It is open to anyone to apply for social housing support, applications for which 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. The allocation of local authority dwellings, including the prioritisation of certain households, is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with their allocation schemes made under section 22 of this Act and associated Regulations.
My Department brought forward the Social Housing Assessment (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 116 of 2021) which adopted the HMD-Form 1. The form is for anyone applying for social housing or a social housing transfer due to a disability or medical grounds. It provides for a variety and wider range of healthcare professionals to complete the form than previous iterations. The purpose of the HMD-Form 1, including the requirement for two healthcare professionals, is to obtain sufficient information to allow the local authority to assess the nature of the applicant’s circumstances and determine the most suitable housing solution for them.
Section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that, subject to law, a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions. The Minister is precluded by housing legislation from intervening in relation to the procedures followed, or decisions made, by local authorities in the provision of social housing support regarding any individual application. The allocation of social housing support is a matter solely for local authorities in accordance with their allocation scheme made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations.
Furthermore, the provision of homeless accommodation and related services is a statutory function of local authorities, and the Minister has no role in the matter and no function in relation to individual homeless cases. Specifically, under Section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 local authorities are responsible for the provision of housing supports to households for the purposes of meeting their accommodation needs, including homeless accommodation and related services provided to homeless persons under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988.
My Department, in conjunction with local authorities and AHBs, continues to work and engage with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the HSE within the framework of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People. This is to ensure the coordinated delivery of independent living accommodation to meet the needs of disabled people, aligned in conjunction with the delivery of the disability services supports for independent living for disabled people which is the responsibility of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the HSE.
433. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to introduce a major low-cost sites scheme in County Kerry and across the country as part of the solution to the housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53596/26]
View answerThe Ready to Build Scheme, funded by the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund, to support addressing vacancy, was launched in September 2022. Under the Scheme, local authorities can make vacant, serviced sites in towns and villages available to potential individual purchasers to build a home.
Under the scheme, local authorities identify suitable vacant sites in their ownership or purchase vacant sites in towns and villages and make them available for sale to individual purchasers for the purpose of building a principal private residence. Once serviced, the local authority will make the site available for sale at a discount on the market value of the site. The level of discount to the individual will depend on the level of servicing cost incurred by the local authority before the sale of the site, up to a maximum of €30,000.
The scheme is managed and administered by local authorities on behalf of my Department. To date 32 sites have been made available for sale by 4 local authorities, 5 sites in Wicklow, 16 sites in Laois, 4 sites in Tipperary and 7 sites by Kildare County Council.
A further over 100 sites have been identified by various local authorities for possible inclusion in the scheme. These sites are at various stages of consideration to determine the costs involved to service the sites and ascertaining the potential level of interest in site purchase. The Vacant Homes Unit in my Department is continuing to engage with local authorities in relation to these sites.
While there are currently no sites available for sale under the scheme by Kerry, Kerry County Council is currently working to identify potential sites under the scheme.
The housing plan Delivering Homes, Supporting Communities commits to expanding the current Ready to Build Scheme through local authorities whereby they will service sites in, and close to, towns and villages to enable construction of clusters of homes. A mix of private, social and affordable homes can be delivered on the same site, creating new mixed tenure communities. Work is ongoing in relation to advancing this commitment.
435. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has reviewed documentation supplied in correspondence (details supplied); his response; if he will meaningfully engage with this group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53605/26]
View answerI can confirm that my Department has received the information referred to and is currently reviewing the submission and the details included.
The submission provided recounts complex matters which date back decades. As such, it will require sufficient time to thoroughly examine and consider the details and the history involved.
My Department will keep me updated on same.
436. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are plans to expand the eligibility criteria for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme to include non-primary residences once remediation works have been completed for those currently availing of the scheme; if he plans to create some form of register whereby those whose non-primary residences are affected by defective blocks can notify his Department in order to obtain a true picture of the number of dwellings affected by this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53633/26]
View answerThe Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 as amended by the Act of 2025 underpins the Grant Scheme which provides grant funding to people whose homes have been affected by Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB).
The DCB grant scheme provides financial assistance to enable homeowners to remediate their homes and is provided by the Department of Housing and through Local Authorities.
Government has agreed to provide grants to owner occupied principal private residences and tenanted rental properties which were RTB registered as at 1 November 2021.
At this point, there is no plan to extend the DCB grant scheme to dwellings other than those outlined above.
437. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the roll-out of the fuel income support scheme for the construction industry; when applications will open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53635/26]
View answer438. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of active cost-rental tenancies in operation and to provide a breakdown of the number of cost-rental tenancies by cost-rental landlord (details supplied). [53653/26]
View answerThe number of active Cost Rental tenancies will vary at any time, due both to the designation and letting of newly-delivered homes, and also to the turnover in tenancies as individual homes are vacated and re-let. None of the 40-year financial models of the Cost Rental providers assume full occupancy at all times, but there is an obvious financial imperative to achieve as close to this as possible.
From the the introduction of Cost Rental in late 2021 to the end of 2025, a total of 5,940 new Cost Rental homes were delivered.
The Land Development Agency (LDA) delivered 2,017 homes and Local Authorities delivered 349 Cost Rental homes. Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) delivered 3,574 homes, broken down as follows:
• Tuath - 1,847 homes
• Clúid - 988 homes
• Respond - 471 homes
• Oaklee - 154 homes
• Circle - 114 homes
These figures demonstrate the substantial growth of the Cost Rental sector since 2021 and reflect the combined contribution of AHBs, the LDA, and Local Authorities in expanding the supply of secure, affordable rental accommodation.
In addition to the homes already delivered, there is a significant pipeline of Cost Rental homes currently in development and at various stages of planning and construction, which will further increase the availability of secure, affordable rental accommodation in the coming years.
439. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will address concerns regarding recent proposed legislation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53658/26]
View answerThe introduction of primary legislation providing for legal and habitual residency as eligibility criteria for access to homeless supports and services will ensure that the State operates a harmonised and consistent approach to the provision of social entitlements. This will provide greater fairness in the provision of housing and homeless supports to those that need them.
The proposed homelessness-related amendments in the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 are being brought forward following extensive consultation withthe Office of the Attorney General. All proposed provisions have been the subject of detailed advices from the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that they are robust, and I am satisfied that provisions are compatible with the Constitution, European and international law.
The amendments related to the provision of homeless services were developed following consultation with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the local authority sector. In particular, there was extensive consultation with the AGO to ensure that the safety net provision meets our obligations under the ECHR, and with the local authorities to ensure the provision was operationally viable. The consultation was still in progress when the portions of the Bill related to social housing were ready to progress to legal drafting stage and to publication. I considered it appropriate to introduce the provisions on eligibility for homeless accommodation within the same bill to ensure clarity to both local authorities and those accessing services.
To guard against any increase in rough sleeping, officials liaised with the local authority sector and with the AGO to introduce a statutory obligation to provide a safety net service to any household deemed ineligible. The safety net provision for households which are not eligible for homeless accommodation is not a continuous provision. This is an important stipulation which allows the local authorities to re-assess the circumstances each day to determine that the safety net should still be provided. Rather than provision being extended, provision may be provided again if the circumstances continue to exist. Provision can be made available on each occasion that the conditions in the legislation are met.
Local authorities will be able to extend the hours of support appropriately. In implementing this provision, clear guidance and training will be provided to local authorities to ensure that all persons are provided the 12-hour safety net provision at a minimum and that further supports are provided where appropriate.
It is neither intended nor anticipated that the residency eligibility criteria for accessing homeless supports under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 will have a disproportionate impact on Irish citizens returning to live in Ireland following extended periods of residence abroad. Irish citizens are automatically legally resident. Returning Irish would qualify as citizens and should their centre of interest be Ireland, they would be deemed habitually resident. In practical terms, if an Irish citizen has severed ties abroad and has decided to return home, the process of establishing habitual residency could be determined from day one.
Finally, I assure you that it is wholly not the intention that the proposed legislation will lead to an increase in rough sleeping or halt the progress made by my Department in addressing homelessness. The legislation will provide a robust legislative basis for local authority decision making in this area and support decisions that are already taken based on a person’s right to rely on the social system of the State.
