-----and they come to my office and my clinics.

The Deputy does not have a monopoly on sympathy in these situations. We are doing everything we can to address the housing crisis.

I thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this very important question regarding St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore. She has been pursuing a campaign and working extremely hard on the matter for some time. Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes, by 2030. To deliver on this objective, the Government has put in place a comprehensive range of supports for affordable home ownership and cost-rental homes being deliv…

I again thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this matter. I know how hard she has pursued it. I do not foresee any further delays. There should not be any further delays. As stated, €66.15 million has been approved for allocation from the fund. This is an exceptionally large amount of money that is needed. Such a large amount deserves to be granted in respect of a project of this type. I will certainly do everything I can to ensure that we get shovels in the ground this year and get this much-needed project off the grou…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the management situation. In the context of Deputy Ó Broin's question, I will get an answer for that. I do not have the information to hand.

I thank the Deputy for tabling this important question. I will address some of the issues that have arisen. The Government decided in 2017 that water charges would not be levied on domestic customers and that the funding of domestic water services would instead be met through general taxation and paid through my Department's Vote. This position remains unchanged. There is a provision for charging for excess use of domestic water services contained within the Water Services Act 2017. This provision is known as the h…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to reiterate the Government's position on it. I reiterate that there is no work being done on this issue. The measure is not in the current programme for Government. There are no plans to introduce it. We will not be taking any further action in relation to it.

There will not be any return. That has always been clear. There was a proposal by the previous Government to bring in water conservation charges. It is noticeable that Sinn Féin did not table a Bill to change the legislation during the previous Government's term of office. It has now put forward a Bill that has made the front page of a newspaper. It is interesting that when it was proposed to do this, Sinn Féin did not have any particular legislative proposals to stop it.

On Lismore, I do not have the information to hand. I will certainly raise the matter with Uisce Éireann, however. If the Deputy sends me the details, we will follow up on that. Of course, I am sure the situation in Cork is always kept under review by Uisce Éireann. However, I will again raise that matter with Uisce Éireann.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important question on the role of accessibility officers in Dublin City Council and the oversight mechanisms that are in place to ensure future housing developments meet universal design standards. These are issues in respect of which he has long campaigned, even before he came to the Dáil. Under the Disability Act 2005, each local authority is required to have at least one officer authorised to act as an access officer. Per the Act, the access officers in each local authority ar…

Their work should certainly not be treated as an add-on; it should be focused on ensuring compliance with the Disability Act. We have had a number of these officers in my local authority in County Wexford. They have been absolutely excellent in ensuring that the relevant requirements are met. I will certainly reach out to the local authorities to remind them of the importance of this role. I will also remind them that the role should be focused on the terms of what the officers involved should be doing, that is, en…

I certainly agree with the Deputy. As someone who has served on a town council and a county council, I am a great believer in local democracy. We will be strengthening the role of county councillors throughout the country. We will be setting up a task force soon which will report quickly to ensure that councillors have their role to be able to hold officials to account where they are not meeting the standards. While we have highly capable officials throughout this country, there are times when perhaps the focus is …

Tenant in situ acquisitions were introduced by Government in 2023 in response to a reported uplift in sales by landlords under the HAP and RAS schemes. Such acquisitions have been an important measure in preventing homelessness. The Government therefore agreed to continue the programme in 2025. My Department has notified local authorities about the extension of the programme. A circular setting out the arrangements will issue shortly. The introduction of additional eligibility criteria for acquisitions this year is…

It is not only families.

In fairness, I think I was supposed to respond before Deputy Hearne, so if he wants to speak after me again, I have no difficulty with that. With the tenant in situ scheme, we believe that criteria need to be applied to it. It was introduced as a temporary measure. It is there as a last resort to prevent people from going into homelessness. I responded to all of this last night. It is somewhat frustrating that no one from the Labour Party or the Social Democrats was there last night for my response. Perhaps the two…

I thank the House for the debate on the report of the Housing Commission and the views put forward throughout it. I once again express my appreciation to the commission members for their time, effort and commitment. It is clear from the views expressed during the debate that there is much we agree upon about where we must get to. That said, it is unsurprising that we are not all agreed, given the deep-rooted nature of the challenges that we have and the breadth and complexity of measures proposed by the commission …

Some €325 million is being made available-----

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, has stated, it is a clear focus of the Government to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and preventing, and ultimately eliminating, long-term homelessness. This being said, I would like to assert the Government's commitment to the continuation of the second-hand social housing acquisitions prog…

I welcome the opportunity to speak today on the work of the Housing Commission and the significant work the Government is doing and will continue to do to implement the commission’s recommendations. Before I do so, I wish to say I am honoured to have been afforded the opportunity to take on the housing brief. I look forward to contributing to an area which has the potential to significantly enhance the lives of people in our society. This afternoon I will update the House on the work ongoing in my Department since …

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak to the Seanad on the response to Storm Éowyn. It allows me to bring some clarity to the co-ordinated response led by my Department. First, I will clarify the role of my Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is the lead Government Department for the response to severe weather events. This means it is responsible for the co-ordination of the response to events such as Storm Éowyn across the whole of government, local authorities, agenc…