Written Answers Nos. 1061-1078
1063. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps being taken by his Department to reduce the number of those on a Kildare County Council waiting list for a house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19383/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the Government is targeting the delivery of 300,000 new homes by 2030, including 72,000 social homes. The plan seeks to significantly scale-up delivery of new build social homes to an average of 12,000 homes per year and includes key measures to support local authorities to achieve this and, thereby, reduce their waiting lists. These measures include:
• The new single approval process for all new build social housing projects up to a value of €200m;
• Mandating the use of standard house layouts and specifications for Social Housing;
• Facilitating the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) through a standardised design approach;
• Introducing a revamped renewal programme focused on tackling dereliction and vacancy in social housing;
• Expanding the role and remit of the Land Development Agency (LDA);
• Expanding and streamlining the operation of the Land Acquisition Fund;
• Financially incentivising local authorities to exceed annual ‘own build’ social housing targets;
• Funding ring-fenced social and affordable 'new-build' housing delivery teams in each local authority.
In addition, the Housing Activation Office (HAO) will identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects required to enable housing development.
Kildare County Council’s social housing build programme is already performing very well and my Department will continue to work with the Council to deliver social homes to those who need them.
The Council has exceeded its 2022-2025 target (106%) and the latest Construction Status Report (CSR) (Q3 2025) shows that Kildare County Council has a strong pipeline in place, with 652 homes at various stages of design and procurement including 314 homes onsite at the end of Q3 2025. The CSR is available for analysis on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/, and also at: https://opendata.housing.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q3-2025. Data for the Q4 2025 CSR is currently being compiled.
Further details on social housing delivery by Kildare County Council can be found on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.
1064. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding the progress toward delivering affordable housing in North Kildare; the measures currently being advanced by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19384/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is fully committed to delivering housing at scale, and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures, including affordable housing. Under the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the supports established under the previous plan - Housing for All - will be retained, streamlined and expanded to form a Starter Homes Programme, which will ensure that first time buyers and renters in need of support will continue to be supported by the State.
Since 2021, nearly 19,000 affordable housing supports have been provided via these measures nationwide, including over 1,680 delivered in Kildare alone. Affordable housing delivery statistics up to end Q3 2025 are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/overall-social-and-affordable-housing-provision/.
To further support the delivery of affordable housing by local authorities, the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is available on a rolling basis to all local authorities to support the delivery of starter homes for purchase or for rent by eligible affordable housing applicants. In Kildare, funding approval under the AHF is in place to assist with the delivery of 264 affordable purchase homes under 10 schemes by 2028, with 49 delivered by end Q3 2025.
It is also worth noting that the First Home Scheme, which supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model, is also available to support eligible new home purchasers in all local authorities including Kildare.
Other measures such as the Local Authority Home Loan, the Help to Buy Incentive, the Ready to Build Scheme and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant are also available to help make home ownership more affordable.
My Department, along with the Housing Agency and the Housing Delivery Coordination Office of the Local Government Management Agency, will continue to advise and support Kildare County Council in respect of its planned response to affordable housing needs in all key urban locations within its administrative area.
1065. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding the construction of infrastructure that will help to deliver housing in North Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19385/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is supporting the delivery of critical infrastructure to facilitate housing development across the country, including North Kildare, through a number of targeted funding schemes and initiatives. These include the establishment of the Housing Activation Office (HAO) in my Department and the introduction of the new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF), alongside existing schemes such as the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) and Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF).
The role of the HAO is to drive the coordination and acceleration of critical infrastructure required to unlock housing development on sites nationwide. The office is focused on identifying and resolving infrastructure constraints, aligning investment across agencies and progressing infrastructure projects that will unlock housing lands and enable homes to be delivered. Since its establishment, the HAO has engaged extensively with various stakeholders, including Kildare County Council, to identify infrastructure constraints impacting housing delivery.
In January 2026, the Government launched the new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) to support direct investment in the critical infrastructure needed to unlock housing delivery in towns and cities across the country. The HIIF is a multiannual €1 billion fund and will be managed by the HAO within my Department. It represents the largest housing infrastructure investment announced by the State in many years. The fund is designed to address infrastructure constraints that are preventing or delaying housing development, particularly in locations where housing can be delivered at scale and at pace.
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. Applications have been received from 30 local authorities, including Kildare County Council, and from the LDA. These applications are currently being assessed by the HAO team against the scheme criteria. Final funding decisions and recommendations will be brought forward in accordance with the governance arrangements for the Fund. Work is also underway to develop further calls under the HIIF.
LIHAF is another scheme that seeks to enable the accelerated delivery of housing on key development sites in Dublin and in urban areas of high demand. The objective is to provide grant funding to support the delivery of off-site public infrastructure that relieves critical infrastructure blockages that are impacting on the delivery of housing. In 2017, following a competitive process, Kildare County Council funding was approved for two projects in Kildare under LIHAF and grant agreements were signed between the Department and Kildare County Council. The first project in Sallins involved the provision of a community and amenity space, and was completed in 2018. The second project is in Maynooth, relates to the provision of the Maynooth Eastern Relief Road. This project commenced construction in Q4 2025 with an expected completion date of Q2 2027. These two Kildare LIHAF projects are enabling housing delivery in Sallins and Maynooth.
Under Call 2 of URDF, Kildare County Council has been allocated approximately €10m in URDF support towards its’ proposal for a Celbridge to Hazelhatch Link Road. The project involves the delivery of a 2km link road and bridge over the River Liffey. It aims to provide essential infrastructure to support compact urban growth in Celbridge as well as enhanced connectivity between the town and Hazelhatch Train Station. My Department is continuing to work with Kildare County Council on the development of this project.
My Department will continue to work closely with Kildare County Council and other stakeholders to support and coordinate the delivery of infrastructure projects needed to unlock housing development on sites in North Kildare and nationwide.
1068. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to his recent announcement that over 11,000 social homes have been retrofitted since the introduction of the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme; to provide a breakdown on a local authority basis of the number of social homes that have benefitted; the allocation to each local authority to the end of 2025 under the scheme, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19456/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP) aims to retrofit a local authority home to a minimum B2 BER rating. It is expected that 36,500 local authority owned homes will be retrofitted under this programme out to 2030.
Some €140 million is available under the 2026 EERP, an increase of €50 million on last year's budget. This will support the retrofit of approximately 3,500 properties. The programme has been devised in a way to give local authorities a level of flexibility when selecting properties to retrofit, ranging from those requiring minor levels of works to properties needing the maximum level of retrofitting required to bring them to a B2 standard. That said, the selection of homes for inclusion in the programme is a matter for each individual local authority.
An annualised breakdown of the units retrofitted, per local authority, is available on my Department's website at the following links:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/668c1-energy-efficiency-retrofitting-programme-expenditure-output/.
www.gov.ie/en/publication/b86b3-midlands-energy-retrofit-programme-expenditure-and-units/.
1070. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether current local authority IT systems used to collect housing and homelessness data record the reasons people become homeless; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19472/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra1071. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he can clarify whether all information collected by local authority officials when a person presents as homeless or at risk of homelessness is notified to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19473/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra1072. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if it is possible within current IT provisions for local authorities to collate and publish information on youth homelessness (18-24 years); including reasons for entering homelessness and exits from homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19474/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1070, 1071 and 1072 together.
My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of local authorities in addressing homelessness at a local level.
Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities. Decisions on the assessment of households for homeless services, the most appropriate form of such support, and the allocation of that support are a matter for the local authority concerned.
My Department currently gathers and publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by local authorities. These reports are based on data provided by local authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS).
The monthly homelessness report includes details of individuals, families and the dependants of these families who accessed emergency accommodation during the relevant count week of the month in question. The most recently published data is in respect of January 2026. The reports are collated on a regional basis and are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/homelessness-data, and are also published to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation's open data portal: https://data.gov.ie/.
My Department also publishes quarterly progress reports which are based on quarterly performance reports submitted by the nine regional lead authorities responsible for the administration of homeless services at local level. The quarterly performance reports provide regional data on the reasons for presentation of single and family households that presented and entered emergency accommodation as well as regional data on single and family household exits from emergency accommodation to a secure tenancy.
Progress and performance reports are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/homelessness-data/.
1073. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 822 of 17 February 2026, if he could provide a county/local authority breakdown of the 9,175 cases where An Coimisiún Pleanála applied the planning condition prohibiting multiple sales. [19478/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested is not held by my Department as this is a matter for An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Coimisiún Pleanála in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie.
1074. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department or any body under it’s aegis made a disclosure under Revenue's recent disclosure opportunity to regularise misclassification of self-employment; if so, to provide details of the numbers of workers affected and the amount paid to Revenue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19500/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department did not make a specific disclosure under the recent invitation from Revenue to make a technical adjustment in relation to self-employment classification before 30th January 2026.
My Department endeavours to comply to the fullest extent possible with all of its obligations under PAYE and other taxation measures.
Where any queries/concerns arise in relation to the Department's PAYE & taxation obligations, my Department undertakes to review thoroughly and engage early and transparently with the Revenue Commissioners.
1075. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department administers any funding schemes which can support provision of Christmas lights in rural towns and villages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19546/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile my Department has issued funding from the Local Government Fund (LGF) twice in the past to support provision of Christmas lights and other Christmas events, these were as a once-off measures only.
The LGF is used primarily to allocate Local Property Tax allocations and to provide support to local authorities in respect of costs arising from the implementation of national pay agreements. In addition there is an exchequer contribution each year to support a small number of miscellaneous schemes, which support local government initiatives across the country.
While my Department will continue to engage with all local authorities in regard to funding of services within its area of responsibility, all Central Government funding needs to be considered within the parameters of the national fiscal and budgetary situation, and the competing priorities presenting themselves at a national level. There are currently no specific plans for further schemes to support provision of Christmas lights in rural towns and villages within this department.
1077. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of applications under the original defective concrete blocks grant scheme that reached the maximum grant payable under that scheme; the number of such cases in each local authority area administering the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19637/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe previous Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (often referred to as the “90-10” Scheme) came into effect in January 2020. Under that scheme the maximum grant payable was €247,500.
The two designated local authorities under the previous scheme were Donegal County Council and Mayo County Council. Mayo County Council have confirmed to my Department that 48 applications reached the maximum grant amount payable under that scheme and Donegal County Council have confirmed a figure of 19 applications.
1078. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a description of the work of the Housing Activation Office; its workforce plan, objectives and KPIs; to provide a detailed description of the work undertaken so far; to provide a breakdown of the meetings that have taken place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19644/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Housing Activation Office (HAO) continues its work to drive the coordination and acceleration of critical infrastructure required to unlock housing on sites nationwide. The office is focused on identifying and resolving infrastructure constraints, aligning investment across agencies and progressing infrastructure projects that will unlock housing lands and accelerate the delivery of housing.
Since its establishment, the HAO has undertaken engagement with various stakeholders, including ongoing engagement with the 31 individual local authorities and LDA. The office is maintaining structured engagement with various stakeholders, infrastructure providers and key delivery partners.
The Housing Activation Delivery Group and the Housing Activation Industry Group have met twice since November 2025 and will continue to meet on a quarterly basis to strengthen coordination and ensure that momentum across infrastructure and housing delivery is maintained.
On 21 January 2026, the Government launched a new multiannual €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) to support direct investment in housing enabling infrastructure. The Housing Activation Office in my Department manages the fund.
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 last, 27 February 2026. Applications have been received from 30 local Authorities and from the LDA. The HAO team are assessing the applications received and final funding decisions and recommendations will be brought forward in accordance with the governance arrangements for the Fund. Details of the HIIF Call 1 can be found on my Departments website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/housing-infrastructure-investment-fund-call-1-scheme-outline/.
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.
