Dublin City Flat Complex Retrofit and Regeneration: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-06
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John Cummins (FG), Waterford

I move:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"notes that:
— the Programme for Government commits to continue and accelerate Social Housing regeneration schemes in Dublin, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage continues and commits to support regeneration projects submitted by Dublin City Council (DCC) that do not result in any significant loss of homes;
— the Government's objective is to maximise the quality and availability of homes within the established inner-city flat complexes, and to ensure that they are to an acceptable standard;
— DCC, through funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are focused on eradicating any sub-standard conditions that have arisen in aging flat complexes, and this directly addresses the issues raised in the collective complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg;
— the Government is fully committed to working with DCC to ensure that all plans to regenerate all such flats, through either deep-retrofit or demolition and re-build, comes to fruition;
— the Government has shown its commitment through National Development Plan funding of €20 billion for housing, which includes support for Dublin City regeneration;
— a number of funding channels are available to local authorities to support regeneration projects, including the Social Housing Investment Programme, the Affordable Housing Fund, the Capital Advance Leasing Facility, the Cost Rental Equity Loan, and through the Regeneration and Refurbishment Programme;
— an unprecedented level of funding is available to local authorities through these schemes, totalling over €3.4 billion in 2026;
— local authorities are supported by almost €260 million per annum for the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, through the Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme (€40 million), Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (€140 million), Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People (€28.5 million), and the Regeneration and Refurbishment Programme (€50 million);
— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has recently approved funding of €13.8 million for the deep retrofitting of 78 flats across four blocks at Pearse House;
— the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working with DCC on a proposal for retrofitting the flats at Oliver Bond House, that will not result in a significant loss of housing, but will result in all homes being upgraded to modern standards;
— the Minister and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will continue to support such retrofitting of these aging flats to bring them in-line with modern standards, and previous delivery of projects, such as the successful estate retrofit and regeneration or demolition and re-build of Killarney Court, Dolphin House Phase 1 and O'Devaney Gardens, shows that a pathway exists for successful delivery of inner-city regeneration to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, and the Government, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are fully committed to continue this work;
— the Government continues to recognise and support the needs of our strong and vibrant longstanding inner city communities, and recognises the value of their input and valuable lived experience to the planned regeneration of inner-city flat complexes, and this work is continuing throughout DCC, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is happy to assess each proposal that is submitted by DCC; and
— the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage works closely with the local government sector to ensure that delivery teams are fully resourced, and continues to do so, and are awaiting a report from a County and City Management Association working group on local authority social and affordable housing resources, and the Chief Executive of DCC has ultimate operational responsibility for the organisational structure of DCC, including additional staff requirements.".
I thank the Deputies opposite for tabling the motion, which relates to flat complex retrofit regeneration in Dublin city. While the Government cannot support the motion, I welcome the opportunity to set out its clear and robust position on the issues the motion raises and to table a countermotion.
Within the programme for Government 2025, Securing Ireland's Future, a commitment was specifically made to continue to accelerate social housing regeneration schemes across Dublin. In our housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the Government commits to a social housing regeneration and remedial works programme for ageing flat complexes and estates nationwide. Social housing is absolutely a central priority for this Government, with 72,000 units planned under our housing action plan to the end of 2030. It is a fact that we are delivering the largest investment in social housing in the history of the State. That investment is being directed specially towards delivery of new social homes, the regeneration of older complexes and the refurbishment and maintenance of existing stock. This is a sustained, multi-annual commitment, not a short-term response.
Regeneration is actively happening across Dublin city.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06