Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

The Government has taken a number of actions across 2025 and into 2026 to try to speed up construction while ensuring that we are getting high quality housing into the marketplace. We have revised the national planning framework which ensures that we have the infrastructure matched with the zoned land to ensure that we are getting those high-quality houses. We have increased the amount of funding for the purchase of local authority housing. This is key to ensure security of tenure for those who fall into a position where their property is being sold. We have also increased significant investment in our State utilities, such as Irish Water, to ensure that we have the infrastructure and allowing developer-led initiatives. Again, this is trying to speed up the timeframe in which we can deliver housing. I absolutely assure the Deputy that, in terms of cost rental, affordable housing and social housing, it is a fact that we are at record levels. These have not been seen since 1970s in terms of social housing and also since the records go back to 2007 in relation to first-time buyers coming into the economy. This Government is critically supporting first-time buyers to get their keys to a new home. This is vastly different from what other politicians offer in this Dáil. They want to pull the rug from under them. We want to support them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15