1. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions he intends to take in the coming months to halt the relentless rise in adult and child homelessness and to reduce the number of people presenting as homeless and accelerate the number of exits of persons currently in emergency accommodation. [54228/25]

Sentiment score: -0.07

As the Minister knows, homelessness is at the highest level since modern records began. Over 16,000 people, including 5,000 children are officially categorised as homeless and in emergency accommodation funded by the Department. Astonishingly, neither the Minister for Finance nor the Minister for public expenditure and reform even referenced homelessness yesterday. The budget book simply references an increase for emergency accommodation, hardly a sign of success. Will the Minister outline the actions he intends to take in the coming weeks and months to start to get a grip on this crisis so that we see the numbers of adults and in particular children in emergency accommodation fall?

Sentiment score: -0.14

Yesterday, in response to the budget, Focus Ireland said: "Budget 2026 has failed to deliver for the record number of over 16,350 people now homeless as the Government did not take any decisive action on housing to help the most vulnerable in society." The Simon Communities of Ireland in a similar vein said: "It is deeply disappointing that yet again there was no mention of homeless prevention and homelessness remains invisible within the budget and also in the ever-present conversation around housing". We know last year fewer social homes were delivered than the year before. We know the budget allocation for local authorities for social housing for this year is over €200 million less than what was spent last year. We are not going to see an increase in supply to get people out of emergency accommodation. The budget increase for this year is not really an increase at all but simply reflects the high level of expenditure on emergency accommodation. That means as a consequence of the decisions the Government took in the budget announced yesterday, homelessness is going to increase and notices of termination continue to be issued at an accelerating rate. I want to know not what the Minister has done to date because that is failing but what is he going to do differently? What new initiative to prevent people from becoming homeless or get people out of emergency accommodation more quickly was announced in the budget yesterday?

Sentiment score: -0.20

The Simon Communities of Ireland went on to say yesterday, “The measures announced today will do nothing to reduce the numbers of people being forced to experience the trauma of homelessness.” What it is saying and what I want the Minister to respond to is, of the €235 million of additional funding for homeless services on the allocation to date of this year, how much will be spent on new homeless prevention or homeless exits or is that money simply a reflection of what the Government is actually going to spend this year? Is the Minister going to bring a further Supplementary Estimate, for example, on homelessness that will show spend this year closer to the allocation for next? What is new in yesterday’s budget? How much money and on what programmes will the Minister use that money to reduce homelessness in the time ahead? On the basis of what I am seeing and what the homeless sector is saying, there is nothing new or additional to prevent or end homelessness more rapidly in yesterday’s budget.

Sentiment score: -0.13

5. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the action he is taking to tackle high rents in the private rental sector and the increasing unaffordability of rents in the Government-funded cost rental sector. [54230/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

The programme for Government had a clear commitment to progressively increase the renters' tax credit. Obviously, that promise was broken in yesterday's budget and as a consequence the vast majority if not all of the renters' tax credit will be swallowed up by rental increases based on the most recent data from Daft. Likewise, an increasing number of people who apply for cost rental projects are refused access because they do not meet the affordability test. They earn too much to be eligible for social housing but enough to be eligible for the unaffordable cost rental rents. Will the Minister tell us what is in budget 2026? What actions is he going to take to tackle the rip-off rents not only in the private sector but increasingly in the cost rental sector?

Sentiment score: 0.14

Average rents for new tenants increased by over €1,000 last year and for existing renters by almost €800. Despite the Government's renter's tax credit, the majority of renters will either be worse off or marginally better off. When we change the legislation, however, those rent increases are going to be even more dramatic for people who move tenancy or enter into a new tenancy. One thing the Minister could do is to retrospectively apply his decision to exempt corporation tax on cost rentals to the 1,200 existing LDA tenants. The LDA and private providers - if that is the Minister's intention - should be forced to pass on those savings to their tenants. Will the Minister confirm whether the corporation tax exemption on cost rentals will be applied to existing LDA tenancies? Will he also set out what measures, if any, he is going to take to ensure the very significant savings that will accrue for new cost rental tenancies by the corporation tax waiver will be passed on to tenants, whether LDA or private sector cost rental providers?

Sentiment score: 0.11

Prospectively or retrospectively? Apologies; I am not heckling.

Sentiment score: 0.00

So they will not apply to existing tenancies.

Sentiment score: 0.00

The potential saving for a cost-rental tenant paying an average rent of €1,500 per month would be €225. That is €2,700 a year. I hope that he would insist rather than expect that the LDA provides that. Equally, the VAT reductions on apartments could also be a helpful way for reducing the rent if the VAT reduction is passed on to the AHB or LDA through Project Tosaigh or forward purchase. Is the Minister going to insist that the €20,000 or so reduction in costs to a developer will be passed on to any AHB or the LDA entering into a forward purchase agreement? Will he clarify how the VAT reduction is going to work for AHBs and the LDA when, for example, they are forward funding as opposed to forward purchasing? It simply makes no sense for the State to provide this VAT exemption for apartments currently under construction if the LDA or AHBs, which are funded by the Department, are not benefiting from a very significant reduction in costs.

Sentiment score: 0.19

Will the cost reductions to the developers be passed on to the LDA, yes or no?

Sentiment score: 0.13