I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that: — Housing for All, sets out an ambitious multi-annual programme that seeks to deliver more than 300,000 new homes by 2030; — record levels of investment are being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding now available of almost €6.8 billion; — this provision includes €450 million to support the delivery of 3,000 additional social, affordable and cost rental homes in the period 2025 – 2027; and €265 million to allow for a significant programme of acquisitions in 2025 for priority categories of need; — the capital provision for 2025 is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing needs; — over 36,700 social homes have been delivered under Housing for All to Quarter 4 2024; in 2023, nearly 12,000 social homes were delivered, including 8,110 new-build social homes, the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975, and in 2024, 10,595 social homes were delivered including 7,871 new builds, 1,501 acquisitions and 1,223 leasing units; — nearly 13,000 affordable housing supports have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All to December 2024 by Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), local authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA), alongside schemes such as the First Home Scheme (FHS) and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant; — over 7,100 affordable housing supports were delivered in 2024, the highest yearly delivery to date, exceeding the year's target of 6,400; — over €1.3 billion has been approved under the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) since launch, to assist in the delivery of over 6,000 Cost Rental homes across 17 local authority areas, with over 2,000 homes delivered under CREL to end 2024; and — on 13th May, Government approved an additional €30 million commitment to the FHS, bringing the total State commitment for the FHS to €370 million, more than 6,700 buyers have been approved to date under the FHS and more than 3,300 homes have been bought using the FHS to the end of Quarter 1 2025; further recognises that: — while housing supply has increased significantly in recent years, much more needs to be achieved; — the measures introduced under Housing for All have helped establish a solid platform to 'scale-up' delivery of housing in the short-term and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us meet demand; — the measures committed to in the Programme for Government, including a new housing plan building on the successes of Housing for All, will help us meet the enormous challenge of delivering more than 300,000 new homes by 2030; — the Government's new national housing plan will incorporate pragmatic actions to boost housing activity in the short-term coupled with strategic deliverables to drive comprehensive systemic change and subsequent increase in supply into the long-term; — there has been record levels of investment in infrastructure under the current National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2021 to 2030; — new capital investments in infrastructure, particularly to support housing targets, are being considered in the context of the ongoing review of the NDP; and — on 30th April, 2025, Dáil Éireann approved the Revised National Planning Framework (RNPF), which provides the basis for the review and updating of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and local authority development plans to reflect critical matters such as updated housing figures or projected jobs growth, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes; acknowledges that: — to see the revised NPF translated to a local basis as urgently as possible, local authorities have been advised to start the process of reviewing and updating their development plans to align with the revised NPF; — the Planning and Development Act 2024, which is being commenced on a phased basis over the next 18 months, represents a radical reform of the planning system and will set, for example, new statutory timelines for decision-making and streamline judicial review processes, which will help to reduce the delays that may be constraining housing supply; — the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025, to be enacted before this summer recess, will ensure sufficient time is given to activate planning permissions for much needed housing; — under the Planning and Development Act 2024, the new Urban Development Zones (UDZ) will enable further housing development and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has signed an order that will enable local authorities to identify suitable sites for UDZs, and for the LDA and Regional Assemblies to bring appropriate sites to the attention of local authorities and the Minister, with work to begin as soon as possible; — a review of the Exempted Development provisions is underway that will provide further options for the provision of housing, with a public consultation commenced this month and updated regulations to come into force later this year; — Part 17 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 will also be commenced shortly to enable the establishment of An Coimisiún Pleanála to replace An Bord Pleanála; and — a series of reforms have been progressed to support a well-resourced planning system, including the implementation of the Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources, which will strengthen the planning system and support the timely delivery of critical infrastructure and housing; further acknowledges that: — Government continues to support local authorities in the delivery of housing programmes, with almost €4.8 billion provided to the authorities in 2024 and this will increase further in 2025; — more than 250 additional capital posts in local authorities nationally are being funded by the Department to support social housing delivery; in addition, over 140 professional/technical and administrative posts dedicated to delivering affordable housing are being funded by the Department in local authorities to strengthen their capacity to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects; — the Government is progressing a number of structured and coordinated initiatives to address vacancy and dereliction, including the review of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, the Town Centre First Policy Approach and the implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024 and development of related secondary legislation, including the current review of exempted development provisions; — the Planning and Development Regulations provide for an exemption from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings, including vacant above ground floor premises, to residential use such as 'above shop' living for up to nine units, subject to conditions and limitations, the most recent figures show that since 2018, local authorities have received 1,457 notifications relating to the provision of 3,429 new homes nationwide through use of this specific exemption; — a €150 million fund to end long-term vacancy and dereliction in towns and cities has been provided under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF); — by the end of Quarter 1 2025, over 8,652 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant approvals had issued already, and €112 million has been paid out to refurbish almost 2,100 homes; — the Compulsory Purchase Order Activation Programme, launched in April 2023, requires a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use, this includes the active use of compulsory purchase powers by local authorities, with URDF Call 3 and other funding supports available for such purchases; and — the vacancy rate of 3.5 per cent as reported by the Quarter 4 2024 Geo-Directory report is the lowest recorded vacancy rate since 2013; affirms Government efforts to: — support the housing needs of specific groups through a range of measures and supports, including a targeted second-hand social housing acquisitions programme, which responds to the needs of the most vulnerable, and which is supported by increasing the 2025 budget for the programme from the €60 million available under Housing for All to €325 million; — address the housing options available for older people, as committed to in the Programme for Government, including by mandating local authorities to find suitable sites for housing specifically designed for older adults, ensuring accessible options within local communities; supporting AHBs in developing and managing senior housing with on-site support services; and reviewing and standardising the older persons housing financial contribution scheme; — support older people and those with disabilities to continue living independently - Budget 2025 provided an Exchequer capital provision of €99.5 million for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People with every local authority receiving an increase in their capital allocation; on 9th June, €23 million funding was announced for local authorities to carry out adaptations, extensions and other improvements to their existing social housing stock; — fund Traveller-specific accommodation which has been fully drawn-down by local authorities over the past five years from 2020 to 2024, resulting in investment of over €100 million capital investment in Traveller-specific accommodation; — support Housing First which was expanded significantly under Housing for All; over 860 tenancies were created under the current plan up to the end of Quarter 1 2025 and 1,060 individuals were in a Housing First tenancy; and — increase the availability of suitable, financially accessible student accommodation as a key policy priority in the new Student Accommodation Strategy, being developed by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which places affordability and equity at its core; further affirms Government efforts to: — work with all stakeholders to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures and to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and improve the availability and affordability of homes; — support individuals and families who may be struggling to purchase a home, through a range of schemes, including the Help to Buy, FHS, Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan; — sustain tenant in-situ acquisitions into 2025 as a clear indication of Government's commitment to preventing homelessness for Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme tenants who have been served a 'no fault' Notice of Termination; — support the rental sector through new policy measures approved by Government on 10th June that will modify rent controls with the aim of strengthening tenancy protections and security of tenure, while encouraging greater private investment in the rental market; — provide stronger protections and greater certainty for the rental sector by extending rent controls nationally, to protect all tenants from high rent increases, rent increases will be linked to inflation, whilst retaining the cap on permissible rent inflation at two per cent with limited exceptions; and — to provide greater security of tenure by introducing legislative changes to significantly restrict 'no fault evictions' for smaller landlords (three or fewer tenancies) and to prohibit them for larger landlords, these changes will further enhance the current provision of tenancies of unlimited duration with the introduction of rolling tenancies of a minimum duration of six years with smaller landlords; and notes that: — a Housing Activation Office in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is being established to identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development at local level, through the alignment of funding and coordination of infrastructure providers; — an Infrastructure Division has been established in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, that will lead a process of infrastructure reform; and — the Government is investing record levels of capital funding in critical infrastructure, including in the areas of water and energy, and will continue to do so under the NDP for the period 2025 to 2035, to be finalised by end of July.". I am thankful for the opportunity to come before the House today to introduce the Government's amendment to the Sinn Féin motion and to outline the progress that has been made to date by the Government and the Housing for All programme. I will set out a few things to begin with to address some of the points that have been made. The first thing I did when I became Minister was to increase the capital spend by €725 million. When I became Minister, the funding that was available for the tenant in situ scheme was €60 million. I increased it to €325 million. Sinn Féin's own policy on the tenant in situ scheme is to slash it to 800 units per year over the coming years, a fact its Members conveniently keep leaving out. Listening to their speeches, all of them are very good at observing, criticising and personalising politics with lots of clichés, but we heard no solutions-----

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Why is that? Why have-----

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-----we heard no solutions? Sinn Féin had a manifesto in the general election that was rejected by the people-----

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----- that is why I have not heard any more about it since then. Deputy Gould will not shout me down. I ask him to show a little bit of respect, please. That is what we have heard. We have heard clichés, personalisation, observations and criticisms, but no solutions. That is what one has to come up with - solutions. The only solution is to increase supply, not freezing the housing situation as it is, but increasing supply. That is what all of our proposals are working towards doing. We also heard about social housing. We are delivering the largest social housing build since the 1970s. That is a fact. We will deliver even more. We have increased the number of houses-----

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We have significantly increased the delivery of housing in this country, and will take the-----

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-----next step change to do it.

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I want to set out some of these achievements that have been made to date, but very much recognise that we are in a housing crisis. I am treating it as an emergency. I am taking rapid decisions to address the housing crisis in this country in order that people can get the homes they need where they need them. We will make bold decisions because that is what we have to do to get out of the challenging crisis we are in. Despite the upward trajectory in supply under Housing for All, the number of new homes built last year was disappointing. Overall, we delivered more ahead of our targets under Housing for All. We will achieve that step change. It is important to reflect on the progress we have made in recent years under Housing for All. After all, in 2012 and 2013, fewer than 5,000 new homes were built in this country each year. By 2022, an undeniable step change in delivery was achieved, with almost 30,000 homes, and more than 32,500 homes delivered in 2022 and 2023, respectively, exceeding the targets in Housing for All. More than 92,000 new homes were built from 2022 to 2024, an annual average of almost 31,000 new homes over the past three years. Nearly 48,000 social homes have been delivered since July 2020. There is also a very strong pipeline, with more than 24,000 social homes at all stages of design and build, which will be delivered over the coming years. Housing for All also provided for the introduction for the first time of a number of new affordable housing supports, enabling the delivery of a significant number of affordable homes through both new builds and homes brought back into use. Nearly 13,000 affordable home supports have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All to December 2024 by AHBs, local authorities and the Land Development Agency alongside schemes such as the first home scheme and the vacant property refurbishment grant. More than 7,100 affordable supports were delivered in 2024, the highest yearly figure to date, exceeding the year's target of 6,400. On 13 May, the Government approved an additional €30 million State commitment to the first home scheme, bringing the total State commitment to the scheme to €370 million. Under this scheme, more than 6,700 buyers have been approved to date. More than 3,300 homes have been bought using this scheme to the end of quarter 1 of 2025. The Opposition motion calls for a dramatic increase of investment in and delivery of public housing to meet social and affordable housing need. The Government and the previous Government, under Housing for All, have rolled out the largest social and affordable housing programme in the history of the State. We will continue to do so. This is demonstrated by the record level of investment provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding now available of almost €6.8 billion. The capital provision for 2025 is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address the housing need. Despite the undoubted progress, we must acknowledge that housing still remains a crisis. The number of new homes coming on stream each year is far short of what we need. The State has invested unprecedented levels of public money in the delivery of housing in recent years, and we must continue to do so. We must consider every available lever at our disposal. In the programme for Government, the Government has committed to delivering 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030, targeting at least 60,000 homes annually by the end of that period. New targets are ambitious, but they provide a credible pathway to delivering the scale of housing needed. Our immediate focus, however, must be on activating. Key to achieving targets will be the delivery of new apartment developments in our cities and urban cores, and much of the investment needed for such developments must come from the private sector, financed through appropriate sources of capital funding, much of which will come from international sources. Again, the Opposition will not say where this funding will come from. It is quick to criticise but has no solutions. The capital is critical to apartment delivery, particularly for the private rental sector. Many of the apartments delivered last year were State-led. While this has secured much needed social, cost-rental and affordable housing, it is not sustainable in the long term to get from 30,000 to 50,000 or 60,000 homes. The State delivered 50% of all homes in this country last year-----

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We will deliver more social and affordable homes. To get the numbers up to 50,000 or 60,000, however, we have to get the private sector to deliver. The State simply does not have that level of funding. The changes approved by Government last week regarding new policy measures to support the rental sector by strengthening tenancy protections and security of tenure will provide significantly stronger protection for tenants and are finely balanced between the interests of tenants and the need for further investment in the rental market. Ultimately, we aim to improve the situation for renters by increasing the supply of rental and private accommodation, social accommodation and affordable accommodation. The measures providing greater certainty of protection from no-fault evictions will also be a critical intervention in preventing homelessness. Addressing homelessness is a top priority for this Government. Funding of €303 million will be available for the delivery of homeless services in 2025. This will ensure that local authorities can provide emergency accommodation, homeless prevention and tenancy sustainment services, including housing first and other services to households experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It will also ensure that these households in emergency accommodation are supported to exit homelessness as quickly as possible. Expanded significantly under Housing for All, the housing first programme provides the most vulnerable of our homeless population with a home for life, as well as key wrap-around health services and social supports to help them. The housing first national implementation plan aims to create 1,319 tenancies by the end of 2026. The programme for Government increased this target to create a total of 2,000 tenancies by 2030. More than 860 tenancies were created under the current plan up to the end of quarter 1 of 2025. A total of 1,060 individuals were in a housing first tenancy. Tenant in situ acquisitions are recognised as a key measure in the prevention of homelessness. As such, I reassert the Government's commitment to the continuation-----

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-----of a more focused and targeted programme-----

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----- to ensure it benefits those who need it the most.

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The Government has supported, and will continue to support, a targeted second-hand social housing acquisition programme, which responds to the needs of the most vulnerable. The Government increased the 2025 budget for second-hand social housing acquisition programme from the €60 million available under Housing for All to €325 million. This has given local authorities the flexibility within their programmes to respond to needs locally. The clear focus of Government is to increase the supply of new-build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge, particularly in preventing and ultimately eliminating long-term homelessness. The Government is also committed to supporting the needs of specific groups through a range of measures and supports to improve the delivery and standard of housing for Travellers, disabled people and older people in conjunction with key stakeholders, particularly local authorities and the affordable housing sector. Traveller-specific accommodation funding has been fully drawn down by local authorities in recent years, from 2020 to 2024, resulting in more than €100 million in capital investment in Traveller-specific accommodation. My Department also offers grants, such as the housing aid for older people and grants which help older people with necessary repairs and improvements. We are also addressing the critical infrastructure challenges being faced as a result of the massive and rapidly increasing population in this country. These are just some of the measures introduced by this Government and the previous Government under Housing for All. We will continue to work hard to deliver the housing needed in this country.

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