Housing Provision Dail Éireann — 2026-06-11 ============================================================ Malcolm Byrne (FF), Wicklow-Wexford I thank the Minister of State for the answer. As he knows, I am supportive. There is an extensive programme of building social and affordable homes right around the country. As he acknowledged, Wicklow County Council has been very good in north Wicklow. The key line in the answer the Minister of State gave was about the fact that there are no applications from Arklow. He went on to say that "this is clearly a matter that requires continued engagement and focus". Can the Minister of State name any other town in the country with a population of over 13,000 where a single social or affordable home has not been constructed and where there have been no applications to the Department? For those waiting for homes in Arklow and living around south Wicklow, there is no point telling them that there are many more homes being made available in Bray, Gorey or Clare, much as I welcome all of those homes. This is the largest town in the country where we are not seeing any progress on social and affordable homes. I have raised the issue with the Minister but I ask the Minister of State to bring the issue back to him. It needs to be communicated to Wicklow County Council that it needs to prioritise this. The evidence is clear. We are not seeing any social and affordable homes. It is no good talking about it being a priority if we are not seeing progress. I do not know what it is that Wicklow County Council has against Arklow but it does not seem to be prioritising it in the context of the building of social and affordable homes. That is why I am getting it in the neck in my office over the Government's failure to deliver in that area. I am not getting it to the same extent in Gorey, where I am seeing real progress being made by Wexford County Council, as I am sure the Minister of State knows is happening in other parts of the country. I ask the Minister of State to raise the issue directly with the Minister. I want the Department to call in Wicklow County Council and demand to know from it, if it is saying Arklow requires continued engagement and focus, what specific actions the council is undertaking. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-11/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-11