Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

In the first instance, this video and the information campaign are not a direct Department of housing campaign. As the Deputy said himself, it is something that has been developed by SpunOut, Ireland's youth information and support platform, and the Housing Agency, who ran this campaign. It was developed by young people and it is based on their experiences.
Like all of us in this House, I recognise the need to do everything we can to improve the availability and delivery of social and affordable homes right across our country. It has been the single biggest issue in our review of the national development plan. It has been our focus in terms of infrastructure. We are enabling infrastructure in energy, water and transport to ramp up the delivery of social and affordable homes. To look at the delivery the Minister, Deputy Browne, has advanced, completions for the first three quarters of 2025 are the highest since 2008. Housing supply has increased significantly over the last five years, with over 158,000 new homes delivered since the beginning of 2020. Rent pressure zones have been extended nationwide, capping increases at 2%. Cost-rental tenancies have been introduced, offering secure rents at least 25% below the market rent. We have extended the rent tax credit to 2028. We have increased the provision of social housing, with nearly 16,000 new homes delivered in 2023-2024, the highest number since the 1970s. As a Government, we are stepping up when it comes to State intervention on the provision of housing across the economy.
I accept that for many young people, rents are still too expensive in our cities and towns and across the country. That is why the intervention from the State is centrally important. Similarly, when it comes to housing supply, we have stood up to the needs in terms of the provision of social housing in our economy. We have extended the first home scheme and the help to buy scheme to help the affordability when it comes to the provision of homes across our country. We want to do everything possible, in terms of the State's role, to support that increased supply of homes right across our country. That is why in the budget we took tax measures to improve the viability of apartments and other interventions when it came to the reduction of VAT on apartments from 13.5% to 9%. That will strengthen the viability of housing supply across the country.
Everyone on this side of the House is absolutely fully aware of the need to do more when it comes to the delivery of social and affordable homes. That is reflected fully in our national development plan. It is reflected in the extension of many of the schemes, subsidies and supports-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09