It is called planning law.

I would like to put on the record my response to a number of factually incorrect claims that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, made in his contribution earlier. As always, it is a pity that he has not remained until the end of the debate. However, as usual we are more than happy that the Minister of State is present. First, the Minister criticised the figures upon which this motion is based. He said in the response to the parliamentary question that there is also a reference to the possible delivery of affordab…

Since the Minister ended the blanket ban on evictions in April of last year, the number of adults and children in Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage-funded emergency accommodation has increased almost every month. The latest figures for March show that we have almost 10,000 adults and children in emergency accommodation. Can the Minister give his response to the latest report from his Department and outline what actions he is going to take in the coming days, weeks and months to halt and reverse t…

I thank the Minister. Part of the problem is that many of the things he is outlining are not going to be coming on-stream, particularly for those who are in emergency accommodation for very long periods. The driving causes of homelessness are the shrinking nature of the private rental sector, increasing numbers of vacant possession notices to quit, increasing presentations and a dramatic fall-off in the number of exits both for single people and families. If we look at exits from homelessness in Dublin, for example…

The difficulty with the circular is twofold. First, the language indicates that it applies only when the household is deemed to be at risk of homelessness, for example when they are eligible for homeless HAP, which would be six weeks out from their notice to quit. That is far too late in the day to intervene. Second, under the previous tenant in situ scheme there was greater flexibility. Dublin City Council, for example, would have acquired properties for households at risk of homelessness who had been on the housi…

As the Minister knows, there have been a number of very serious allegations of potential conflicts of interest made in the public domain against an individual member of An Bord Pleanála. My question relates not specifically to the allegations, because I realise the Minister is not in a position to comment on those, but to the terms of reference for the senior counsel review that the Minister has commissioned. Can he confirm that those terms of reference relate to all the allegations of potential conflicts of intere…

In order for An Bord Pleanála to fulfil its functions, it has to have the confidence of the public. It is the view of many of us that this confidence has been eroded over the past several years, in part because of some very controversial decisions in contravention of local city and county development plans and, in many cases, the advice of its own inspectors. This has led to the extraordinary situation of Dublin City Council being forced to take judicial reviews on two occasions, with respect to both St. Anne's Par…

I thank the Minister for that. One of the most important recommendations of the 2016 review of An Bord Pleanála that is as yet unimplemented is the recommendation that all future appointments to the board be made through the Public Appointments Service. Particularly in the current context, it would be a very wise move. Could the Minister commit to doing that during his time in office? Given that the last internal report initiated by one of the Minister's predecessors into allegations of planning impropriety, the Mu…

I do not wish to cut across the Minister but am wondering whether that involves a "Yes" or "No" on committing to implementing the specific recommendation of the An Bord Pleanála review.

That is a maybe.

Will the Minister publish the Mulcahy report?

I ask the Minister to also provide an update on the Croí Cónaithe cities fund. Will it be up and running this year? Has the Government decided whether the fund will be an equity stake in the new-build apartments, grant aid to the purchaser or a subsidy to the developer?

I ask the Minister to confirm that all of the regulations underpinning the affordable housing schemes have been laid before the House and if not, can he tell us which ones are outstanding and when they will be laid.

It was done last week. My question is whether that is all of them.

I thank the Chair for his indulgence. I am looking at the circular again. One of the conditions is where the property is one of the priority categories in Circular 02/2022, which was one-bedroom and four-bedroom properties or properties for disability adaptations. Does that mean two-bedroom or three-bedroom properties would be excluded under the revised circular? Clarification would be helpful. The circular also states that proposals for acquisition by approved housing bodies should continue to be submitted to the …

I wish to make clear the full support of Sinn Féin for the efforts of the Government to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine, but also to ensure that all Ukrainians who are forced to flee their country and seek refuge here receive every possible support. I commend, as did the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, the generosity and enormous community spirit of people the length and breadth of the country. They have opened their homes, pockets and hearts and we supp…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Will the Taoiseach outline the progress he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have made in recent years in advancing supports, protections and rights for undocumented Irish living in the United States? Government engagements with the diaspora when in the US are, of course, enormously important. However, they will be viewed by many as shallow if not matched by visible efforts to advance the needs and rights of Irish immigrants. There are, as the Taoiseach knows, tens of thousan…

Boris Johnson has again been sabre-rattling, with threats to suspend unilaterally parts of the Irish protocol through legislation. We know that these statements have everything to do with the British Prime Minister's political woes, but the reality remains that the Conservative party is fundamentally reckless and cares little about the North of our country or its people. The Nationality and Borders Act is a case in point. Not only is the legislation an affront to Britain's international obligations, but it will be …

The facts on the ground paint a very different picture from the one the Taoiseach has painted. Let us take his city of Cork. Since he became Taoiseach, rents have increased by 15% to €1,400 per month. Average house prices in Cork have increased 20% under his tenure to €320,000. Homelessness is up an astonishing 26%, which is the highest it has ever been and higher than the high point of September 2019. Social housing need is approximately 7,000 households yet the Government's housing plan will only meet approximate…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the rental crisis continues to spiral out of control; — the latest Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent index shows new rents increased by nine per cent State-wide; — 14 counties experienced double-digit rent inflation; — rents increased by 18 per cent in Westmeath, 19 per cent in Longford, 25 per cent in Waterford and 25 per cent in Roscommon; — average new rents State-wide are €1,415; — average new rents in Dublin are €1,972; — rents in Dublin have increased 100 per cent…