I thank all Senators for their engagement on this Bill. I acknowledge the contributions of Senators Flaherty, Boyhan, Murphy, Andrews, Stephenson, Higgins, Blaney and Rabbitte. We all recognise that it is important that developers use their permissions, whether for housing or energy projects, and important to encourage developers to act quickly on their consents. The Acts of 2000 and 2024 provide that the duration can only be extended if the project has commenced and reached substantial completion. However, in rela…

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Helen McEntee. I thank the Senator for raising the matter of the status of a new school application for Scoil Mhuire, Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. Scoil Mhuire is a co-educational school under Catholic patronage. As the Senator rightly pointed out, it is the result of an amalgamation in September 2013 of the local boys' and girls' national schools. The current staffing at the school is a principal, plus 19 mainstream posts and …

The Department is fully aware of the needs of Scoil Mhuire and the local area and the application for a new school building. I assure the Senator that the application will be reviewed further following the outcome of the NDP allocation process. The Department acknowledges the ongoing discussions concerning a proposed new school building, which the Senator rightly pointed out. It will continue to engage with the patron, local authority and, I am sure, local representatives as part of its ongoing review of school req…

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health. Heart failure is a complex condition that affects thousands of people in Ireland. Many people are unaware that they have heart failure, due to the gradual onset of symptoms, which are often mistaken for normal signs of ageing or attributed to other health conditions. Therefore, heart failure has often progressed significantly by the time a diagnosis is made. Treatment requires co-ordinat…

I acknowledge that cardiovascular health is a central pillar of health funding as part of budget 2025, which included more than €9 million in full-year costs to support important cardiovascular health initiatives. The budget commits €4 million in additional full-year costs and 45 new posts to reform how we deliver cardiac services. Since 2020, the chronic disease management programme has supported those at the greatest risk, including those with heart failure. The programme includes prevention, targeted case findin…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 before the House today. Members will recall the size of the Planning and Development Bill 2024, which was enacted last year. Many of us worked extensively on that legislation, both at the joint Oireachtas committee and in both Houses. While the implementation of this Act is a key priority for the Government, it is important that the planning system remain agile and responsive to issues. This i…

I thank Senator Noonan for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I acknowledge the Senator's contribution to the sector during his time as Minister of State with responsibility for nature, heritage and electoral reform. The Department is of course aware of the important commitment in the programme for Government to undertake a review of the Heritage Act 1995, the primary purpose of which was to establish the Heritage Council. The Heritage Council provides a hu…

I thank Senator Noonan. Again, I acknowledge his work in this area. Notwithstanding that the council has been able to discharge its responsibilities very effectively in recent years, I agree, as I know the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan does, that the Heritage Act, and particularly the definition the Senator referenced on what heritage is, should be reviewed to bring its provisions into line with contemporary views and to ensure the council and the wider sector can continue to thrive, which we all want to see…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which he consistently does. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site as defined in the Act. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict si…

The Deputy does not have to shout in order to make his points. We can all make valid points without shouting across the Chamber at one another. It is true to say that dereliction is a really important issue. It is not one that local authorities or Government are ignoring. The Deputy knows full well because we both sat on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage all of the measures that are in place to assist those. They include the vacant property refurbishment grant, buy and renew, …

As I said, the Government has put in place a number of schemes to empower local authorities on the exact thing the Deputy just mentioned. There is a revolving fund through URDF call 3 for the compulsory purchase of properties. It is true that some local authorities are doing better than others. We want to mainstream best practice across all local authorities. There are also other schemes such as repair and lease, buy and renew and the vacant property refurbishment grant, which are all there to be able to activate t…

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter, as he regularly does in this Chamber . His advocacy for Kildare is certainly well noted. As he will be aware, I was in Kildare last Thursday, when I visited the local authority and engaged with the executive team. Much of what the Deputy has raised here in his question was the subject of the discussion we had. The system of funding of local government in Ireland is a complex one. Local authorities derive their income from a range of sources, including commercial rates…

It is the case that, through a decision made in Cabinet today on the LPT model, there will be a significant increase in LPT for Kildare County Council as part of its 2026 figures. That will be made up from an increase in the baseline figures but also from the retention element moving from 22.5% to 31%. It means that Kildare County Council will have an additional €4.9 million in funding in LPT for 2026 over and above what was provided in 2025.

I have no doubt that the Deputy will continue to use this Chamber to be a strong advocate for north Kildare and the county as a whole. The Deputy is right about the LPT; there is a recognition in the Government of the increased pressures on areas like Kildare. That is why we are saying as a Government, in line with the decisions that have been made by the Cabinet and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, that we will allow for a higher retention rate in areas that have a growing population, additional housing and increased…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as he has done previously. As I do, the Deputy recognises the importance of translating what we have approved in this House in the national planning framework into getting it implemented by local authorities in their development plans as early as possible. That is why the Minister, Deputy Browne, has written to local authorities telling them to prepare and start work on their variation processes. We will be writing to local authorities very shortly about their housing gro…

I can assure the Deputy that there will be headroom in the housing growth requirements. Obviously, there will be the base, in line with what is in the national planning framework, which is to provide about 54,000 homes per annum. This is a significant increase compared with the 33,000 previously. There is a requirement in the base for a significant additional zoning requirement. As we know that not every parcel of land is brought forward for development, there is a requirement for headroom in terms of that. The Min…

I thank both Deputies. Increasing housing supply in all parts of the country is critical. The variation process in terms of the county development plans is a very important part of this. That is why such extensive work has been done in the Department to ensure that the housing growth requirements are aligned with the NPF and that they also allow for additional headroom in terms of zoning requirements for local authorities. We want additional land to be brought forward for housing across the country. On Deputy Timmi…

The zoning of land is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their development plan process. The making of a development plan is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority who are required by legislation to be consistent with the established statutory national and regional planning policy and legislation, including, as identified in the national planning framework, regional spatial and economic strategies and ministerial planning guidelines. Development plans have to se…

It is the requirement of local authorities and the reserved function of members to decide what locations and what specific zoning objectives they determine for each land bank. They are required to include mandatory objectives regarding regeneration and to provide zoning for residential, commercial, employment and enterprise, industrial and other uses to such extent as the proper planning and sustainable development of an area requires. The Minister and I will write to the local authorities in the context of their h…

I appreciate the comments the Deputy made. It is not just for residential purposes; it is for industrial and commercial. While we do not instruct local authorities on specific areas, it is obviously a requirement to forward planning teams to look at the overall picture within a local authority area and determine where they feel residential, commercial, industrial zoning is appropriate and ensure there is an appropriate quantum of all of those uses within their local authority area. We will write to local authoritie…