----- to ensure it benefits those who need it the most.

The Government has supported, and will continue to support, a targeted second-hand social housing acquisition programme, which responds to the needs of the most vulnerable. The Government increased the 2025 budget for second-hand social housing acquisition programme from the €60 million available under Housing for All to €325 million. This has given local authorities the flexibility within their programmes to respond to needs locally. The clear focus of Government is to increase the supply of new-build social and a…

Not for existing tenancies.

Not for existing tenancies.

I very much welcome the opportunity to come before the House this evening to speak on housing matters. I take this opportunity to thank all of the Members who contributed this evening to the important, worthwhile and very interesting debate. First, I echo the contributions of the Ministers of State, Deputies O'Sullivan and Cummins, earlier and reassert the Government's commitment and determination to tackle the challenges in the housing sector. We know these challenges are having a very real impact on people's live…

I thank all Members for their contributions. I echo the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and reassert this Government's commitment to tackling the challenges in the housing sector. I will highlight the steps being taken by the Government to minimise vacancy and to ensure strategic and informed programmes of planned maintenance work for local authority housing are implemented and supported by stock condition data and the appropriate ICT asset management solution. The completion of the roll-o…

-----submitted by a local authority does not exceed €11,000. In addition, and where turnaround times are not impacted, local authorities can also complete the suite of works applicable to the energy efficiency retrofit programme on a vacant dwelling with additional funding up to a maximum of €48,850. There is evidence to suggest, however, that while re-letting costs are higher, the turnaround times are longer. Pre-letting works being completed to the highest possible standard in order to future-proof these dwelling…

It did not have the money to put in stairs.

It did not have the money to put in stairs. Is the Deputy having a laugh? This is the problem. The local authority should be putting in those stairs.

The Deputy should think about what he is saying. These voids should not be there. The local authorities have the ability and wherewithal to resolve the issue.

The Government has in the past given them the money to do so. The funding available from my Department under the planned maintenance voids programme is available to support minimal turnaround times, with all local authorities moving to a position of aligning works with the criteria of the relevant regulations and meeting their legal obligations as a landlord. This will limit the impact of funding shortfalls, which must be absorbed from the local authorities' own resources. Given the significant Exchequer investment…

The Deputy comes in and blames the Government for allowing that to happen.

It is madness and should not be happening. Of course, in line with local authorities' best practice and with regard to rental standards, whether a house is old or has a long-standing tenant in situ, it should be inspected and improvement works carried out at regular intervals to prevent excessive maintenance costs and delay when the property becomes vacant. To that end, my Department and colleagues across the local authority sector are working to transition from a largely reactive response and a void-based approach…

The move to the planned maintenance approach for stock management and maintenance is crucial in this regard to ensure that local authorities can maximise the funding available from relevant stock improvement programmes by only completing the measures applicable with the housing standards for rented housing regulations when a property becomes vacant. Providing cyclical maintenance over the life cycle of a tenancy will ensure houses can be re-let more quickly, deliver far better value for money and limit the exposure…

-----provided a maximum average is maintained across the local authority's programme.

Given the legal responsibility on local authorities with regard to management and maintenance, they play an important role to ensure adequate budgetary provision for the purpose of housing repairs and cyclical maintenance from their rental income. The funding my Department provides is supplementary rather than available to fully replace local authorities' own self-funding. Returning to the example Deputy Gould gave earlier, in five years the local authority could not find the wherewithal to put in stairs.

That is not a Government responsibility but a local authority responsibility.

We will continue doing everything in our power to minimise turnaround times, as referenced in the programme for Government, with the proposed introduction of a new voids programme to support local authorities to ensure their homes comply with the relevant standards and to provide good comfort levels for their tenants and implement strategic programmes for planned maintenance informed by stock condition surveys. When these houses are made vacant, there are families who have just been living in them. How it can take …

Vótáil.

As we conclude this important discussion, I express my sincere thanks for the opportunity to mark National Biodiversity Week in the Dáil and to reaffirm my Department's enduring commitment to the protection and the restoration of Ireland's natural heritage. I acknowledge and thank all Members who contributed, both today and at last week's debate in the Seanad. The quality of debate and the variety of issues raised by Deputies and Senators reflects the growing recognition that biodiversity is not a peripheral issue.…