Cathal Crowe
Ceist:
227. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the main policy achievements of his Department since 22 January 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70527/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra
The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Orders.
The Programme for Government - Securing Ireland’s Future, is the foundation for my Department's main policy initiatives. My Department's Statement of Strategy 2024-2025 was published in November 2024 and set out our strategic goals, objectives and actions. It is available on my Department's website at the following link https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/statement-of-strategy-2024-2025/. A new Statement of Strategy for the period 2025-2027 is currently being prepared by the department and will be published imminently.
My Department's website, www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage, is a good source of information about activities and initiatives undertaken, but by way of illustration, some of the key policy achievements delivered since 22 January 2025 are outlined below.
Housing:
publication of Ireland’s new national housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030: An Action Plan on Housing Supply and Targeting Homelessness;
agreement of additional commitment to extend the First Home Scheme to June 2027;
approval of further proposals under the Croí Cónaithe Cities Scheme, increasing the number of units supported under the scheme to 1,616 units;
approval of 43 Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) projects, across 15 Local Authority areas, for the delivery of 3,358 cost rental homes between 2025 and 2029;
expansion of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) to cover the entire country by the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025;
publication of the S.I. No. 306/2025 Affordable Housing Act 2021 (Cost Rental Allocation Plan) Regulations 2025;
provision for all RPZ’s to remain in operation until 28 February 2026 under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025;
Government approval of stronger tenancy protections and greater certainty for the rental sector on 10 June 2025. This includes the introduction of a national rent control, as part of a suite of measures to boost the supply of new homes and secure and grow the availability of rental accommodation. The stronger protections will apply to new tenancies created (i.e. first time tenancies between parties) on/after 1 March 2026;
the exemption of designated cost rental activity from corporation tax;
extension of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant scheme to 2030;
introduction of a Vacant Above the Shop Grant to support bringing vacant ‘above shop’ space into residential use;
additional support for the conversion of vacant former commercial buildings into residential units;
enactment of the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Act 2025;
publication of the National Development Plan (NDP) Sectoral Plan for Housing
Planning:
publication of the 1st Revision of the National Planning Framework;
commencement of the enacted Planning and Development Act 2024 on a phased basis in accordance with the published Implementation Plan;
publication of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the management, preparation and finalisation of secondary legislation in line with the commencement schedule;
issuing of the Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities;
issuing of the NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements, Guidelines for Planning Authorities
commitment of a further €2.5 bn in equity investment in the Land Development Agency
Local Government:
the establishment of the Limerick Mayoral and Government Consultative Forum to facilitate engagement between the Mayor and national government;
establishment of the Local Democracy Taskforce to finalise a programme for the reform and strengthening of local government in Ireland;
publication of S.I. No. 297/2025 - Local Government Act 2001 (Section 142) (Security Allowance for Local Authority Members) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 revision of the allocation policy for Local Property (Tax LPT) for 2026 to allow: 1. each local authority’s LPT baseline to be increased in line with the increased yield from the 2025 revaluation, expected in that area, with the overall baseline increasing from €428.4m to €470.4m. 2. those authorities with an LPT income above their funding baselines to retain a greater portion of the surplus for their own use; increasing from 22.5% to 31% of the overall yield. Both changes together will lead to an increase in local authorities’ own use LPT funding of the overall sum of €85.4m.
review of classes of exempted development in consultation with other Government Departments and state bodies, which includes a public consultation on the proposed changes to inform the preparation of new exempted development regulations to accompany the relevant provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024;
Publication of the European Union (Political Advertising) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 474/2025) which will facilitate the implementation in the State of Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising
Water:
Ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Convention in Vigo, Spain in June 2025;
implementation of the additional measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme though an amendment to the Good Agricultural Practice Regulations (S.I 42 of 2025);
development of a Water Quality and Water Services Infrastructural Sectoral Adaptation Plan
publication of the Sixth Nitrates Action Programme 2026 – 2028 and implementing Regulations ‘European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2025
designation of Heavily Modified Water Bodies under the Water Framework Directive
Heritage:
launch of the World Heritage Strategy;
development and approval of Ireland’s National Adaptation Framework in accordance with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015;
publication of the Biodiversity Sectoral Climate Adaptation Plan 2025;
establishment of an Independent Advisory Committee to provide recommendations relating to the development and content of the National Restoration Plan for the Nature Restoration Regulation
My Department’s high level activity, with respect to the Statement of Strategy, is documented in its Annual Reports, which can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/f9a38-annual-reports/. Regular updates, in the form of press releases, are also issued by my Department, particularly when outcomes are achieved, and these can be found at
www.gov.ie/en/search/ type=press_releases&organisation=department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage.
