I thank the Deputy for his question, which centres on the home-buying process including ghost bids, gazumping and bidding wars. I recently took over responsibility for the Property Services Regulatory Authority from the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. It regulates property service providers, including estate agents. Estate agents already have to comply with key statutory obligations regulating the home bidding process under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, which provides they shall not…

The Government has accepted there are issues. That is why it set up the expert group. The programme for Government committed to a broad package of measures to assist home buyers under the home buyers help package, many of which have already been progressed by the implementation group of the task force on conveyancing and probate, arising from the previous actions under Housing for All. The ESRI report itself focused on behavioural aspects of the Irish housing transaction system within the current supply and demand …

I thank the Deputy. As I said, we have had our task force and we have the implementation group. Many measures have already been implemented and the rest of those measures are being implemented at pace. I am happy with the work the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is doing in this area. I am reviewing the new report that has come from the ESRI to see if further measures are needed on top of that and I will make those decisions. Where measures are needed, I will implement them.

Affordability very much is at the heart of the Government's housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030. The Government is targeting the delivery of 300,000 new homes by 2030, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable supports. The plan reinforces and expands the range of existing measures being implemented by Government to tackle the issues of supply and affordability, thereby supporting the increased provision of new homes to purchase and ren…

We do have a lot to say to people. We have already delivered a record number of homes last year. Since Housing for All came in, we delivered 36,000 homes last year. We have provided tax breaks for renters as well. We know the only way we can address the homeless crisis, the rent crisis and the housing crisis is through increasing the supply. We cannot calcify the current situation forever. I know it is popular for Deputies opposite to say they want an eviction ban and to freeze rents. They are just going to exacerb…

Short-term protectionism is only exacerbating this situation. I want to give people hope. We delivered over 36,000 new homes last year. That is the highest number of homes since Housing for All came in. We delivered an awful lot more homes 20 years ago. In my view, the kind of protectionism we brought in has undermined the supply of those homes. We need to get back to delivering at least 50,000 homes a year. Going back 20 years, at one stage it was 90,000. I think those numbers were questionable, which is why we no…

Within the programme for Government 2025, Securing Ireland's Future, a commitment was specifically made to continue to accelerate social housing regeneration schemes in Dublin. This commitment is reiterated in the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. Where local authorities propose the complete redevelopment of flat complexes such as O'Devaney Gardens and St. Teresa's Gardens, my Department is making a number of funding channels available to local authorities and approved housing bodies for suc…

I thank Deputy Ó Broin and I am surprised at his comments. The national regeneration and refurbishment programme is the largest regeneration programme in terms of funds in the history of the State. The remediation of local authority social housing estates and flat complexes in the country's most disadvantaged communities is one of my key priorities. This includes those defined by the most extreme social exclusion, unemployment and other issues in these local communities. That said, given the critical shortage of ho…

I very much do understand the scale of the problem. The funding is available to address every one of those issues and they need to be addressed because it is totally unacceptable that people are living in these types of conditions, but it has been made about-----

It has been made about density instead of being about regeneration. We fully support and will fund the regeneration. It needs to happen. It could have happened by now. We want it to happen at speed-----

Because the local authority made it about density instead of regeneration.

This needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly.

It needs to happen in terms of ensuring people have the quality homes, updated homes and upgraded homes they deserve to live in, instead of it being made about density, which Deputy Ó Broin has made it about and so has the local authority in the past.

I thank the Deputy for her question in relation to this matter. Supporting individuals and families who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness, including victims and survivors of domestic abuse, is very much a priority for me, my Department and the Government. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a cross-departmental multi-agency issue, with the Department of justice co-ordinating overall policy. Responsibility for the development and provision of services to support v…

I assure the Deputy that there is no slippage on this. This will be established and implemented this year. Once the protocols are finalised, I will be issuing that direction to the local authorities to ensure that people can travel from one local authority to another when fleeing domestic violence without losing time spent on the first authority's list. In fairness, I have generally found my own local authority quite reasonable and understanding in this regard. However, there has been an inconsistency across local …

I recognise that the Deputy has raised this on many occasions. She has been very consistent on it. This protocol is coming. It would be welcome if, in anticipation of the protocol, local authorities accepted what they know is now going to come.

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for raising this important issue with regard to the SCSI and the draft follow-up on construction costs under the defective concrete block grant scheme. My Department keeps costs relating to the defective concrete blocks scheme under continuous review. As the Deputy is aware, following updated costs reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and advice from an expert group established to consider the matter, a further increase from the original grant rate set down in the Rem…

We continuously keep the scheme under review through consistent and regular stakeholder engagement. An implementation steering group for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme has been in place since 2023 and comprises officials from relevant local authorities, my Department, the Housing Agency and homeowner liaison officers. This regular stakeholder engagement is augmented by regular meetings. We have done a review of the costings, implemented it and passed the legislation. I am looking at whether such a revie…

I am very conscious of the distressing situation people in Donegal and other counties are going through. I have been to Donegal and spent considerable time listening to people and getting a better understanding of the distressing situation they are in. The wider review has to start on or before July 2026. It may start sooner if the review comes in in relation to IS 465/2018 being changed because that in itself triggers a review. There is another review in relation to the cost. It will be a question of the most effe…

I thank the Deputy for the question, which relates to Elm Park in Buncrana and advancement of the plans to relocate families. The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 commenced on 22 June 2023. It underpins the current grant scheme and the related regulations that were adopted on 29 June 2023. I visited Donegal last year and met with many of the affected residents. I understand the flooding issue pertaining to Elm Park, where nine homeowners are particularly affected. So…