I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very distressing situation for the homebuyers who entered into contracts and indeed paid significant deposits for the purchase of 16 homes at Ringfort development in Rathmolyon, County Meath. I have read news reports as recently as this morning about this case. My deepest sympathies go out to those families. I understand the frustration they are facing. For many of us, buying a new home is a dream. It is an aspiration for all families. The Government is committed to ensuring such aspirations can be realised. That is why we published the Government housing action plan last week, which commits to delivery of 300,000 homes to the end of 2030, including 90,000 starter home supports. As I am sure the Deputy will understand, this matter is subject to an ongoing legal process and I understand the developer company is appointing a liquidator. Accordingly, I am constrained in what I can say on the matter. While I certainly share the understandable concerns of the Deputy and the families concerned, there are clear laws of contract and legal frameworks governing the purchase of houses that should be enforced. I am aware State support has been drawn upon by both the homebuyers and developer concerned. I understand help to buy was used by some of the homebuyers to support the purchase, while the developer drew down loan funding from Home Building Finance Ireland to help finance the development, debt I am given to understand has been repaid. Notwithstanding the State support provided, the matter remains a private contractual and legal one between the homebuyers and the developer in question. Accordingly, it would be inappropriate for me as Minister of State or for the Government to intervene, especially when the appropriate legal processes are under way.
Sentiment score: 0.24
As I said in my opening reply, I have great sympathy for those who are trying to purchase homes here and across the country. That is why the Government is putting supports in place like the one the Deputy mentioned, to support homebuyers in purchasing their first home. I would love to be able to solve this matter for the individuals and families in question. As he will appreciate, contractual and legal frameworks govern the purchase of properties and have to be followed. This is a matter in respect of which a legal process is ongoing. As a result, unfortunately, as Minister of State I am not in a position to be able to intervene. I want these families to be able to be in their homes as much as the Deputy does. From a departmental perspective, we are keeping a close eye on proceedings and what is happening here in this particular instance. Unfortunately, given the state of the circumstances that face us at the moment, it is not appropriate to be able to intervene.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important matter. It gives me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Government fully understands and acknowledges the difficulties that homeowners and residents of many apartments and duplexes are facing and the stress that is caused when defects arise in their properties. The Government is committed to helping those whose lives have been impacted by this issue. As the Deputy is aware and mentioned, the Department is, as a matter of priority, preparing legislation to put in place a statutory remediation scheme for owners of certain apartments affected by fire safety, water ingress and structural defects. This legislation will establish supports for the remediation of these defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. Given the complexity of the issues, including the significant amount of Exchequer funding that this Government has committed to assisting affected homeowners, sufficient time is required to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose, provides value for money for taxpayers and contains appropriate oversight and governance measures. Indeed, good progress has been made with Department officials attending a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage yesterday evening to begin the process of pre-legislative scrutiny. Pending the introduction of the statutory scheme, the interim remediation scheme has been established to provide for funding of emergency fire safety defect works to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings until full remedial works can be completed. This scheme, which is being administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis, is open to applications from apartment owner management companies, OMCs, via the Housing Agency's website. Given their status under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 and the key role they play in management of the apartment sector, OMCs have been identified from an early stage as being an essential ingredient to ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of this remediation scheme. The Housing Agency will oversee the process, ensuring OMCs receive the funding necessary to carry out these remedial works. It will work with the companies through the application process. In addition, an effective advice and information service within the agency has been established to provide support for OMCs. In principle, full funding will be provided for all eligible works necessary to achieve an acceptable level of fire safety in each building. To ensure value for money and good governance regarding Exchequer funding, appropriate terms and conditions will apply to such funding, outlined in the grant agreement.
Sentiment score: 0.31
Owners and renters deserve better. There is no question that these properties should not have been built to the standard that they were. They should have been built to a higher standard; that is a given. That is why the Government has committed to putting a significant remediation scheme in place to support the owners and renters in those properties to improve them and bring them up to an acceptable standard. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has continually met with stakeholders in this area. He is committed to progressing the overall legislation that will provide for this. As I mentioned, officials were before the Oireachtas joint committee recently. We have to get this right, however, and owner management companies are a critical component of this. If we are to invest significant sums of taxpayers' money in remediating these properties, we have to ensure there is effective governance in place in all those complexes. The last thing we want to see is money being poured into something and for it either not to be improved to the level it needs to be or to be misused in some other way. This money, which is taxpayers' money, will be ring-fenced to improve apartments and duplexes that were impacted between 1991 and 2013. The report in 2022 estimated that up to 100,000 units could be impacted, not just in Dublin but right across the country. We therefore have to get this right, and I am sure all Members will contribute to that.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. It gives me an opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Health. The neuro-rehabilitation strategy implementation framework was launched in February 2019. The overarching aim of the strategy is the development of neuro-rehabilitation services to improve outcomes for people by providing safe, high-quality, person-centred neuro-rehabilitation at the lowest appropriate level of complexity. Services must be integrated across the care pathway and provided as close to home as possible. Specialist neuro-rehabilitation services being established under the neuro-rehabilitation strategy will provide earlier access to specialist rehabilitation that improves people's outcomes, reducing their neuro-rehabilitation needs, enhancing function and reducing the supports required as they transition back into their communities. As part of the strategy, the HSE is in the process of expanding the number of community neuro-rehabilitation teams across the country. The current position is that in 2025 four new teams have been recruited and will be operational this year. Some areas have partial teams in place but some areas, including Dublin and the north-east regional health area, have no teams in place currently. Moving forward with the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, the aim is to enhance the existing CNRTs and fund those areas that do not have a community team to create a large population-based team within each regional health area. A substantial amount of additional funding was provided for the continued implementation of the neuro-rehabilitation strategy in budget 2026. The details will be set out in the national service plan in 2026, which is due to be published shortly. I take on board the points the Deputy has raised on behalf of her communities in the north east in relation to the absence of a team in her area. I will take back what she said to the Minister for Health.
Sentiment score: 0.21
The Deputy has articulated very well the importance of this service to her community in Louth and the entire north-east area of the country. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to ensure the continued roll-out of the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, and community teams form a critical element of that. Budget 2026 has invested significant additional moneys in this area. That will have to be reflected in the HSE national service plan. There is a commitment to focus on the areas that do not have a team and to expand the areas that have only partial teams in place. Again, I will take the points the Deputy raised back to the Minister for Health.
Sentiment score: 0.31
I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan. Government investment in sport is essential to increase participation levels in all sports across all sectors of society. The allocation for the sports programme in budget 2026 is over €290 million, an increase of just under €60 million or 26% compared to the 2025 allocation. When the national sports policy was published in 2018, it set a commitment to double investment in sport to more than €220 million by 2027. Obviously, we are significantly ahead of that already. With regard to the development of physical sports infrastructure, the role of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport is to provide capital funding for such facilities, including swimming pools. The construction and day-to-day operation of swimming pools is a matter for the respective local authority in the first instance. The Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. Over €250 million was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. The LSSIF was established under the 2018 national sports policy to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects, typically those requiring investments greater than the maximum available under the CSFF. A total of €297 million has been invested through the LSSIF across 68 projects. The 2018 round awarded €124 million to 33 projects, including top-ups in 2023. In November 2024, €173 million was allocated to 35 projects following record demand. An allocation of €28.9 million was made to nine swimming pool projects. In addition, the CSFF has provided allocations in excess of €5 million over the last ten years to swimming projects. Previously, the local authority swimming pool programme, LASPP, provided grant aid towards the capital costs of new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools. Fifty-two pools have been completed and just one swimming pool project, Lucan, remains in the programme. Lucan swimming pool is currently under construction. I note that South Dublin County Council handed over the dry-side facilities, including the gym, to the appointed operator on 22 July 2025. These facilities were subsequently opened to the public on 28 July 2025. In relation to the funding provided to Lucan swimming pool, the Department, as the Deputy rightly states, provided a grant aid allocation of €3.8 million from the LASPP to South Dublin County Council, which is responsible for delivery of the policy. Formal approval for the grant was provided in 2019. To date, the Department has paid out €3.2 million to South Dublin County Council for the ongoing construction works on Lucan swimming pool. South Dublin County Council has confirmed that the construction programme for Lucan leisure campus was impacted, as the Deputy said, by supply chain issues, Covid and the war in Ukraine. Since then, various other factors have contributed to project delays. I am informed that South Dublin County Council is actively working to advance the project and ensure delivery of the facility for the people of the area. A tender process for appointing a replacement contractor is complete and a preferred bidder has been identified and notified. This step is critical to progressing the project and completing the remaining works. The newly appointed contractor will assume responsibility for co-ordinating all remaining works which will include finalising the swimming pool element of the development. Following the conclusion of the contractual arrangements, an updated project completion date will be communicated publicly. This will provide clarity and certainty to the community regarding the timeframe for opening the leisure centre and swimming pool complex.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I thank Deputy Gogarty. It is obviously an exceptionally important project for his area that he has campaigned for over a significant period of time. I acknowledge the people that were previously involved, including his own dad, as he mentioned. Sport is really important, as are pools. I come from a sporting background myself in that I am a qualified physical education teacher. I understand the importance of having good quality sports infrastructure in all of our communities right across the country. As I said in my opening statement - it speaks to some of the frustration the Deputy has outlined - of the 52 pool projects under the local authority swimming pool projects, only one of them remains uncompleted, and that is Lucan swimming pool. The positives I take from the response that I have put on the record of the House is that a new contractor has now been appointed in order to complete the works. That is very important. In terms of swimming more generally, the 2024 to 2027 strategy sets out an important vision in order to try to increase participation and take-up of people in learning what is a very valuable life skill, as close to their communities as possible. The Government will continue to put additional funding behind the swim strategy. Some €1.5 million has been allocated for the period 2025 to 2026. The governing body, Swim Ireland, is currently undertaking an analysis of the overall ownership structure of swimming pools across the country that will feed in to future projects. I assure the Deputy that this is something the Department will keep a close eye on, as we want to see this project completed and the pool opened as quickly as possible.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank Deputy McGettigan very much for raising this important matter, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health. Improving access to home support is a priority for the Government. The overall budget for home support in 2025 is circa €838 million. This is the largest allocation ever for home support. It is an increase of nearly €122 million on the previous year and an increase of over 70% when compared to the 2020 budget of €487 million. We are on track to exceed the target of 24 million home support hours, excluding complex home support, for this year. At the end of September, we delivered 1.3 million more hours than by the end of September 2024. We have already exceeded the year-end target to support over 60,000 people at any one time. Under budget 2026, the HSE will be funded to increase the target to €26.7 million next year. In the Clare and Limerick integrated healthcare area, at the end of September 2024 the HSE reported that 1.034 million hours of home support had been delivered. This is 2.1% ahead of the target for the year to date, and nearly 48,000 more hours than the number of hours delivered in the same period last year, which is an increase of nearly 5%. However, although supply of home support hours has increased, the waiting list does remain persistent in some parts of the country, including County Clare. The HSE reports that, as of September 2025, the waiting list in County Clare stood at 340 people. Some 93 people are waiting for their home support package to commence, while the other 247 people were waiting for receipt of additional home support hours. Where there are waiting lists for home support, priority is given to those in the community with acute needs and those assessed and waiting in acute hospitals who are able to return home with support. Higher waiting lists are known to be directly related to the availability of carers in the region. The Government has recognised the importance of addressing recruitment and retention for the sector and is continuing to work to deliver on the recommendations of the strategic workforce advisory group on home carers and nursing home health care assistants. The HSE has also reported that it is carrying out regional rolling recruitment campaigns in line with the pay and numbers strategy across the health regions. A number of initiatives are under way to focus on the recruitment and retention of HCAs to provide home support in areas where additional home support staff are required. Additionally, at a national level the HSE has developed a HCA career hub spotlight piece which highlights the role of HCAs who provide home support, the training required and the benefits associated with working for the HSE. It also offers contact details for local home support services as well as information on how to join the career hub to receive job updates. The Minister of State with responsibility for older people and housing, Deputy O'Donnell, is fully committed to addressing waiting lists for home support, with a focus on those regions that are disproportionately affected. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has specified that home support waiting lists must be addressed through the HSE's upcoming national service plan.
Sentiment score: 0.45
As I said in my opening statement, budget 2026 will increase the number of hours provided for home support to 26.7 million, which is significantly more than what was provided in 2025. Nonetheless, I acknowledge the points the Deputy has raised. The Minister of State with responsibility for older persons and housing, Deputy O'Donnell, is committed to ensuring that where there are gaps in provision, including in County Clare as the Deputy has pointed out, they will be addressed through the national service plan which the HSE will bring forward. There is no question that areas of rural Ireland should not be disadvantaged in terms of home support - or any other service for that matter - that is provided by the State. Where there are disproportionate waiting lists in certain parts of the country, we are committed to addressing that through the HSE service plan, which the HSE is responsible for bringing forward. It is the Government's responsibility to ensure the funding is put in place and it is the HSE's responsibility to ensure that adequate provision is provided across the country to ensure people can remain in their homes, as is their requirement, and to ensure we free up capacity within acute settings as well. I will take the points the Deputy has made back to the Minister for Health.
Sentiment score: 0.46