Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to say we want to do everything we can to make home ownership affordable for people, especially our young people. Housing for All provides funding and commits to delivering 36,000 affordable homes for purchase, as well as 18,000 cost-rental homes, until 2030. Those affordable homes are currently being delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the first home scheme and the Land Development Agency, LDA. With regard to the Deputy's county of Galway, Galway city and county councils published their housing delivery action plans in July 2022. These plans give a comprehensive overview of a projected delivery of affordable housing in Galway in the five-year period to 2026.

It should be said that local authority affordable purchase homes will be made available in Galway this year for the first time in a decade. Both Galway local authorities and the LDA are developing a pipeline of affordable housing delivery into the coming years.

We are making significant progress, but I agree with the Deputy that we need to do more. That is why just last month the Cabinet signed off on €1 billion worth of measures that will significantly increase the delivery of homes. For example, the Croí Cónaithe vacant property refurbishment grant scheme is being increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties. That really is a good scheme. I believe it will be a game-changer for towns and villages and, indeed, for rural areas. We are reducing the cost of construction by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water and other services. That will save up to the value of €12,650 per home on average. We are getting work started on thousands of affordable apartments to rent which have planning permission but which are in limbo. All of these measures will speed up construction immediately.

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