Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
250. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the issue of older adult homelessness in Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4967/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraSupporting families and individuals, including older people, experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness is a priority for my Department and Government.
Increased supply is key to addressing homelessness, meeting need and addressing the challenges in the housing market. The new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, aims to speed up the delivery of new homes and tackle homelessness. The plan targets the construction of 300,000 homes, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports by the end of 2030.
Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. A record level of investment is being provided for the delivery of housing in 2026, with €5.2bn in Exchequer capital funding complemented by investment through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and lending from the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), bringing the total capital funding for housing in 2026 to over €9 billion. This record level of funding is supporting the delivery of social, affordable and cost rental homes. The 2026 capital funding will be supplemented by over €2 billion in current funding to address housing needs.
Prevention of homelessness in the first instance is essential with many prevention initiatives already underway in my Department and across Government. This includes the provision of social and affordable housing, HAP and homeless HAP, and our strong tenancy protection legislation. In order to ensure a fully aligned all-of-Government approach under the Plan, there is a commitment to develop 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, including older people. This Framework will be in place in 2026.
The long-term housing needs of families and individuals, including older people, who are in emergency accommodation, will be met through a range of social housing supports such as the Housing Assistance Payment scheme and through general social housing allocations. Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is our continued investment in the social housing programme. €2.9bn of the capital funding for housing in 2026 has been allocated to support the delivery of social homes. This continued investment in the social housing programme will increase the supply of stock available to allocate to households on the social housing waiting list, including households in emergency accommodation.
The new housing plan also includes measures which will increase delivery of housing for older people through increased delivery of social housing, increased delivery of more suitable homes in private housing and increased choice to support voluntary rightsizing. Government is committed to increasing housing available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence and my Department is advancing these measures.
