James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss with the committee my Department’s Estimate for 2025, as well as the Votes for Tailte Éireann and An Coimisiún Toghcháin, which are also under the aegis of my Department.

I am joined by officials from my Department and a briefing has been provided to the committee in advance, so I will keep these remarks brief, focusing on critical areas of expenditure.

Overall, the Estimate for Vote 34 before the committee totals €8.6 billion for the year and comprises €3.3 billion in current funding and nearly €5.3 billion in capital funding. Additionally, there is €151 million in proceeds from the local property tax, meaning nearly some €8.8 billion in funds will be managed across Vote 34 this year. In addition to this, the total gross provision for Táilte Éireann in 2025 is nearly €91.2 million and for An Coimisiún Toghcháin is €11.8 million. I will now take the committee through the key areas of expenditure for 2025.

The year 2025 will see continued record investment in housing. Overall, almost €6.8 billion in capital funding is being provided through a combiantion of Exchequer resources, investment by the Land Development Agency, LDA, and lending by the Housing Finance Agency. This includes the additonal capital funding agreed by the Government earlier this year for the delivery of new social, affordable and cost-rental homes. In 2025, a targeted 28,000 households will have their housing needs met, with the main focus of capital investment being on the accelerated delivery of more than 12,000 new social homes. The affordable housing delivery target for 2025 is 6,400 and a strong pipeline is now in place. We will continue to build on the progress achieved under Housing for All, with more than 37,400 homes and more than 14,500 affordable housing solutions delivered to the end of Q1 2025.

The capital investment will be supplemented by €1.65 billion to support a range of current funded housing programmes, including support for 10,000 new tenancies through the housing assistance payment and the rental accommodation scheme. Supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is a key priority for the Government. This 2025 Estimate provides €328 million in funding for homelessness services, including the provision of emergency accommodation and supports that households require to exit emergency accommodation to a tenancy or to prevent them from entering emergency accommodation. This funding will also allow for planned investment in homelessness capital programmes.

Funding for housing this year will also address a broader range of critical areas, including the specific housing needs of people with a disability and older people, initiatives to address vacancy and better utilisation of existing stock, remediation of defective homes and a provision of supports to maintain people in their homes through retrofitting measures and adaptation works.

My Department has made substantial progress in how we manage our water quality and services, which continue to undergo significant reform in the approach to the delivery of water services and the promotion of wider environmental protection. In 2025, my Department has provided over €1.7 billion to Uisce Éireann for the delivery of water services. This includes €983 million in capital to allow it to continue its capital investment programme to modernise and expand the capacity of Ireland's water infrastructure. This investment will help to raise network capacities, increase water quality and bring us closer to compliance with European directives. Our investment will also help to ensure Uisce Éireann can support the delivery of the Government's housing objectives, with additional actions being undertaken to support housing connections to public water services. My Department also continues to invest directly in rural water services through the rural water programme by allocating more than €67 million in 2025.

I will now turn to local government. Some €69 million has been allocated to support fire services in 2025, including €27 million in capital funding to support the investment in fire services infrastructure, front-line emergency fees and necessary equipment and building on the progress made to date. This underpins my Department's continued commitment to our fire services. Furthermore, on the vital local government sector, the Government will be making a contribution of €590 million to support local authorities in their work in 2025 through the local government fund.

Planning reform remains a key area of focus for the Government in 2025, with more than €280 million being provided via this Estimate. This includes the provision of more than €185 million for the urban regeneration and developement fund, URDF, for key regeneration and rejuvenation projects. Recognising the demands on planning authorities, funding is also being provided to support the filling of additional posts in the local authority planning service and An Bord Pleanála.

More than €223 million is being provided via this Estimate to programme F, heritage. This investment includes the provision of more than €70 million for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, €47 million for Waterways Ireland and more than €25 million for built heritage services. In addition, €42 million is being provided via the shared island fund for the Narrow Water Bridge project. Just over €62 million will be provided to Met Éireann, enabling the provision of a range of meteorological services to customers.

I have kept my remarks as brief as possible and I look forward to engaging with the committee this evening.