I will raise a couple of points before I read the closing statement. I want to thank Deputies for the points they have raised. There is nothing additional to say that is not in the closing comments. I will refer to some points that have been raised by Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. In Housing for All, there are measures to enhance family support, prevention and early intervention services for children and families. This takes a multi-agency and collaborative approach to enhance tenancy sustainment supports to families wh…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the new fire station at Clara, County Offaly. The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy and progressing legislation, providing a central training programme, iss…

I reassure the Deputy that Offaly County council has made significant progress and indicated the current Clara fire station is located on a confined site, with an insufficient footprint preventing the prospect of an upgrade or extension works due to the current fire station site. Departmental officials have linked with the council regarding availability on the council's preferred site location at Raheen in Clara. Offaly County Council previously published tenders for a lead design consultant to oversee the design, …

On behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this issue. Rásaíocht Con Éireann, RCÉ, is a commercial State body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act 1958 chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. RCÉ is a body corporate and a separate legal entity from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. According to the 2021 Jim Power report, The Economic and Financial Significance of the Irish Greyhound Industry…

I agree with the Deputy. It is essential to try to broaden the use of such a facility. It is important to explore the idea of multi-use on a site like that. I am not privy to the workings of the RCÉ, but I suggest it might be worth asking them to come before the agriculture committee to have a further conversation. Second, I will bring the Deputy's concerns in relation to this back to the Minister for agriculture. The Deputy is correct; sport is changing and the nature of greyhound racing is changing. People's atte…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this important issue, which relates to the VAT refund order available to unregistered farmers who use the farmer’s VAT flat rate scheme. The first point I wish to make is that the VAT treatment of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply. In accordance with the EU VAT directive, farmers can elect whether to register for VAT in respect of their farming business. The Deputy mentioned farmers in other European countries as well. It should b…

The Deputy has raised this on a number of occasions through parliamentary questions and has also raised the point in recent weeks. I also note the point he made about the challenges around registering for VAT and the extra cost to farmers. It is important also to note that Ireland maintains this refund order under an historical derogation permitted under the EU VAT directive. As the refund order is based on an historical derogation, it is not possible to expand the scope of the refund order and it would not be comp…

-----but that is the response.

I thank the Deputy and I appreciate that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. On behalf of the Minister for Education, I will set out the position with regard to primary and post-primary school places in north Kildare for September 2024 and onwards. I assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and for the Minister. The Department has in…

Gabhaim buíochas leis An Teachta arís. I am grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to outline the position with respect to primary and post-primary school demand in north Kildare on behalf of the Minister for Education. As I have outlined, there is a strong pipeline of projects being delivered across the schools in the area and these are delivering significant additional capacity to meet the needs of students at primary and post-primary level and of students with special educational needs, including a new 1,…

Housing for All sets out the range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing to the required 33,000 homes, on average, per year over the next decade. Some 54,000 affordable homes will be delivered between now and 2030. In the first 18 months of the new programme, more than 3,000 affordable homes have been delivered through our new cost-rental schemes, the first home scheme and the local authority affordable purchase scheme. This momentum will continue as the pipeline of affordable housing delivery is d…

I was not aware of this specific issue with modular developments. My response to his first question was in terms of general delivery. If there are specific cases the Deputy has brought forward to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, we would appreciate if he could also bring them forward to us. I know there are planning regulations around the development of modular homes. I appreciate some families are in a situation where they are looking at options on their own land for their family members - be it a mobile home or some…

All of the local authorities are asked to bring forward their figures for social and affordable housing. They all have yearly targets to achieve. I do not have the deliverability figures before me. Not all local authorities are meeting those targets, but many are. Our Department has also ensured that in planning departments, the additional staff required have been brought forward to help in the delivery of housing. The Department has not been found wanting to ensure local authorities have the financial resources an…

Housing for All sets out a range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing to the required average of 33,000 homes, per year over the next decade. Some 54,000 affordable homes will be delivered between now and 2030, facilitated by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and through the first home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks. In the first 18 months of the new programme, more than 3,000 affordable homes have been delivered, s…

As I said, the information is being collated and will be brought forward shortly and posted on our website. On the figure of 3,000 affordable homes, more than 770 cost rental homes were delivered by AHBs and local authorities. Some 1,039 affordable purchase homes have to date been advertised by local authorities for homes delivered in 2022, and for delivery this year and next year. I have other examples. In partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the LDA has commenced construction of 597 homes, incl…

I will provide some more examples of affordable purchase homes being made available. Hampton Gardens Close in Balbriggan includes nine one-bedroom apartments and nine two-bedroom ground-floor duplexes costing between €170,000 and €220,000. Hawkes Road in Bishopstown, Cork, has 35 two- and three-bedroom homes for €246,000 to €289,000. At Dun Emer in Lusk, there are two- and three-bedroom homes for €166,000 to €245,000. Bower Hill in Athlone, County Westmeath, has three-bedroom homes costing between €248,000 and €288…

My Department, working with our partners, is looking at all these issues. On 18 July, as the Deputy is aware, the CREL - cost rental equity loan - working group approved additional supports for AHBs to deliver cost-rental homes by increasing funding up to 45% for capital costs. As I mentioned, Project Tosaigh is designed to manage planning permissions and deliver these projects at scale. The Department keeps the schemes under constant review to ensure they remain affordable and there is a strong delivery pipeline r…

My Department participates directly in the Galway task force, including in the four meetings that were held this year. Alongside this, we work with local authorities and other agencies on responses to homelessness and we have regular engagements on the delivery of new social and affordable housing. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has personally engaged with all of the chief executives and directors of housing, including at both the Galway councils, most recently at the housing summit on 25 October, with a foc…

I have the 2022 report in front of me, which I read through last night. As I mentioned in my reply, we are working from a low base in Galway. The Deputy has raised this issue on more than one occasion in the House. I refer to the targets for Galway city for 2022. For Galway city, the target was 305, with delivery of 150. The county target was 230, with delivery of 224. The report acknowledges that there were a lot of external pressures in the construction sector and highlights the impact of workload associated with…