I thank the Senator for the way she articulated the case for Drogheda to become a city. Clearly it is her home town - or city - and she is very proud of it. This came across incredibly well. She is proud of the progress that it has made but she has also identified some challenges which she sees city status as a key way of overcoming. I will outline the Department’s position and rationale, as well as some opportunities for future discussions. Project Ireland 2040 is the overarching planning and investment framework …

The Senator is right that the establishment of a local authority is primary legislation. However, the recognition of somewhere as a city is different. That has been done through charters and by different methods over the centuries. To back up the Senator's point, the CSO will define a city as having a population over 50,000. Drogheda ticks that box. Kilkenny only has a population of 27,000. My view is that there is definitely merit in the recognition of a city. I think the separate local authority creates far more …

I thank the Chair. It is an absolute pleasure to be here to introduce this legislation, the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025. All Stages of this Bill were passed last week in the Dáil. Its purpose is to amend section 10 of the Housing Finance Agency Acts 1981 to 2024. The amendment, through section 1, will increase the statutory borrowing limit, SBL, of the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, from €12 billion to €13.5 billion. Section 2 sets out the Short Title, collective citation and construction. The missio…

I thank all of the Senators who contributed to the debate this evening. It is great to see that there is widespread support for the legislation here, as there was in the Dáil, and for good reason. There is a general acknowledgement of the need for local authorities and approved housing bodies to get access to this extra finance in order to ramp up supply and deliver much-needed homes. Some very valid points were made during the course of the debate. Senator Flaherty referred to vacancy, an issue that is very close …

I thank Senator Cosgrove for bringing this up. She is a fellow west Cork person. People are proud of her in west Cork. It is an honour to take this Commencement matter as we fly the flag for west Cork in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I sincerely thank her for raising this. I know she has been to visit those affected and has seen how the houses are crumbling and the psychological impact of what is happening, so she is coming from a well-educated place in terms of what she thinks needs to happen. As the Senator is aw…

I thank the Senator again. Her raising and highlighting the matter broadens awareness of the impacts it is having. We were chatting earlier and talking about the technical element in that if you are only partially rebuilding there is a risk of the pyrite seeping into the new blocks, which would have an impact. That is why we have to keep the scheme under review, which is exactly what we are saying in the answer here. The scheme will be kept under review to improve it. The Government approved priority drafting of le…

It is really refreshing and encouraging to hear the agreement that we need to push for clean, renewable energy. I totally take the Senator's point on the need for guidelines to be brought forward as quickly as possible. The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future reaffirms Ireland’s ambitious targets of 8 GW of solar capacity connected to the grid by 2030 to assist with meeting the requirement of 80% of electricity demand supplied by renewables. Solar energy is a growing source of electricity, wit…

I appreciate the Senator's approach. He is clearly indicating that we need more renewables and is simply asking that there are guidelines in order that we can avoid a lot of the stress and strain that has been caused in different communities. That is still happening to an extent. These developments can be quite daunting for many smaller communities. It is such an alien concept to have infrastructure like this in some of the most scenic parts of Ireland. The Senator is right. We should have developed the guidelines …

I thank all the Deputies who have made contributions in the House over the last while. A lot of them summarised some of the challenges we face, including the need to urgently ramp up supply, quite well. There is clearly a common theme among Deputies' contributions, that is, a desire to make housing affordable, to increase supply and to reduce and eventually end homelessness. That has come through quite clearly. All of that will feed into the new housing plan, which is imminent. Many of those themes will certainly b…

Cork City Council has a target to deliver 592 new build social homes in 2025. The social housing construction status report, CSR, shows that there were 1,084 homes on site at various stages of design and procurement in Cork city at the end of Q1 of 2025. Cork county has a target of 683 new-build social homes this year. The CSR shows that there are 1,203 homes on site at various stages of design and procurement in Cork county. The CSR also shows that 308 new social homes were added to the pipeline across both local …

If all local authorities were able to match the rate of delivery of Cork county then the rate of delivery of social housing and affordable housing right across the board would be much stronger. I commend the work of the councillors and the local authority there, of which the Deputy was recently a member. There are some specifics in relation to Cork North-West, if the Deputy is interested. The Deputy mentioned Macroom. There are 16 units in An Clós in Macroom that are substantially complete. There are two units at M…

Fair play to Deputy O'Shea for taking this opportunity to raise the issue. We cannot rest on our laurels. There is a lot more work to be done. There are still plenty of people in Cork county who need social homes. There is a huge demand for affordable homes so we absolutely need to accelerate that delivery. The Deputy is right in saying that when Cork County Council got the go ahead to deliver affordable homes, it was not long in putting schemes into place. It has also been strong with croí cónaithe, as well as wit…

I get to speak today on investment in our nature and built heritage. The exciting news is that, for the first time ever, funding for nature and heritage exceeds a quarter of a billion. That is extraordinary and something we could not have thought possible a number of years ago. Now, for the first time, we exceed that figure. To put it into context, that represents a 15% increase for nature and heritage in general and brings funding for the sector to €256 million. It is about a two and half-fold increase from 2021, …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir for advocating for the people and students of Ballincollig and those who wish to send their children to a multidenominational school to be educated as Gaeilge. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, who could not attend. I will try to outline where the process lies and where there might be opportunities to engage and make the points the Senator has already made. As he said, Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin is a multidenominational school under the patronage of A…

If there is a chink of light for the Senator and people in Ballincollig in the response, it would be that upon receipt of all statutory approvals including planning permission, the Department will review and advise the patron and school authorities as to whether phase 2 will be included as part of the current project. It is not ruling out that they will progress together. I agree with the Senator. We have to learn from errors in the past. Another example is in Clonakilty. A fantastic new extension to the community …

I will read out a detailed and lengthy reply. If the Senator wants to collaborate more, please request that at the end. In line with the climate action plan actions, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment published the electricity storage policy framework for Ireland in July 2024. The policy framework, through ten Government actions, supports the incorporation of electricity storage systems into the grid network. The policy framework recognises that electricity storage systems of different types, str…

According to action No. 4, in terms of participation and those who are supposed to be consulted it says that included in this are relevant statutory, bodies, leading industry representations and academic or interest groups and representatives of the public. I suppose the interpretation of that needs to be delved into further. What covers representatives of the public? Surely, one would imagine, that would include a broader or more inclusive discussion with the public. That is certainly feedback I will bring back to…

They must have been over for the Steelers game. To answer Deputy Toole's question at the outset, the chief pharmaceutical officer commitment will be fulfilled. I do not have a timeline on that but it is absolutely a commitment that we will follow through and fulfil. I would like to thank the Deputies for their contributions today, especially those who spoke in support of community pharmacists and the work they do in delivering a more accessible and integrated health service in Ireland. The community pharmacy agreem…

I thank the Deputy for speaking on this issue with such passion. He has a lot of knowledge in this area. He has seen the benefits that DEIS has provided with those extra supports in terms of schools where there are a variety of challenges. There are disadvantaged areas and students from all different backgrounds. I have also seen first-hand in my own constituency the benefits those extra DEIS supports can bring. This is why, in the previous Government, we committed to the roll-out of DEIS plus to increase those sup…

I reiterate that the Government is committed to tackling child poverty and it sees education as a key enabler to achieve that. The development of the DEIS plus scheme will be a further positive step in this commitment to lifting more children out of poverty to give them the futures they deserve. Since its introduction the DEIS programme has tackled the impact of poverty through supporting the improved attendance and progression of children and young people experiencing poverty. It has also improved education attain…