James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I echo the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and reassert the Government's commitment to tackling challenges in the housing sector and with regard to critical infrastructure. We know these challenges are having a very real impact on people's lives. We understand the urgency and the need to ensure sufficient homes are delivered to ensure people have safe, secure and affordable homes and that these homes are served by the physical and social infrastructure needed to create sustainable communities.

We are working tirelessly to address these challenges and implement policies that are making a positive difference. While there is still much to do, the Sinn Féin motion and Opposition inputs this evening do not fairly represent the efforts and progress made to date and the Government commitment to addressing these challenges further.

The motion claims the Government is not doing enough, but it is clear we have securely laid a foundation and built a housing pipeline that will allow us to continue to ramp up delivery over the coming years. The measures introduced under Housing for All have helped establish a solid platform to scale up housing delivery further in the short term and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us meet an unmet and emerging demand.

The Government has progressed a series of reforms to support a streamlined and well-resourced planning system. This includes a consolidation and a streamlining of planning legislation under the Planning and Development Act 2024. This Act represents the most comprehensive review of planning since 2000 and will reform and streamline the planning process, reducing delays in housing and strategic infrastructure projects. Furthermore, the implementation of the ministerial action plan on planning resources will strengthen the planning system and support the timely delivery of critical infrastructure and housing. The revised national planning framework also provides the basis for the review and updating of local authority development plans to reflect critical matters such as updated housing figures and planning for critical enabling infrastructure.

The Government has established a new infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform that will lead a process of infrastructure reform. In the first instance, the new division will oversee an evidence-based assessment of barriers impeding timely delivery of infrastructure development, and this will form an action plan of high impact reform measures. Implementation of the action plan will be overseen by an accelerating infrastructure task force.

The Government has also established a new housing activation office in my Department. The office will identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of vital public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development through the alignment of funding and co-ordination of infrastructure providers. The office will seek to co-ordinate investment by infrastructure providers under their capital expenditure plans and delivery programmes, ensuring appropriate prioritisation for housing. It is also intended the office will manage a multi-annual housing infrastructure budget under the new towns and cities infrastructure fund to be determined through the national development plan review. It will engage and align stakeholders, including local authorities, utility and infrastructure providers, industry and others, to ensure the infrastructure blockages are addressed in a co-ordinated way to enable housing development.

Furthermore, I am establishing, and will directly chair, the housing activation delivery group comprising senior representatives from key Departments, infrastructure agencies, regulators, housing delivery agencies and other public expertise. It will support the office in developing a co-ordinated programme of public infrastructure. As Minister, I must also chair the housing activation industry group to provide for regular structured engagement between the office and industry-representative bodies.

The office has been established on a non-statutory basis in the first instance. On review, it was clear the provision of powers would require an extensive and complex legislative intervention as the office cuts across areas assigned to multiple Departments and agencies under existing legislation. This would have significantly delayed the establishment of this critical office. The office will work through collaboration, dedicated funding and with the support of the Government. The matter of powers can be reviewed over time to ensure any powers given to it, as appropriate, will be effective. This is no different from the Sinn Féin proposal, which proposed establishing the office on a non-statutory basis to begin with.

The motion calls for increased capacity of critical infrastructure required for the delivery of housing. The Government is committed to delivering on the key objectives for infrastructure to support the delivery of more than 300,000 houses by 2030 and to boost the country's competitiveness. There have been record levels of investment under the national development plan in recent years and the programme for Government has set a clear ambition to build on this strong base. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure from €300 million in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024. For 2025, the Exchequer will provide just over €2.2 billion in funding to Uisce Éireann and the programme for Government also commits to investing additional capital in Uisce Éireann under the revised national development plan to support our new housing targets.

In response to an increased demand for energy, the system operators, ESB Networks and EirGrid, have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030. The Government looks forward to the conclusion of the sixth price review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities which will provide a clear framework for investment in the electricity grid, and the Government will support the system operators in building capacity and more reliable and decarbonised energy systems. To meet the challenges and the opportunities arising from higher anticipated levels of population and economic growth, the Government is investing record levels of capital funding in critical infrastructure, including in the areas of water and energy, and will continue to do so under the national development plan for the period 2025 to 2036 to be finalised by July of this year.

We continue to invest at unprecedented levels to ensure we build a sustainable housing system where, ultimately, supply meets demand. By securing this level of investment, Government is providing much needed certainty and confidence to citizens and the wider housing market. Recognising the considerable successes of Housing for All and having regard to the work already under way to develop the new national housing plan, we have delivered growing levels of new homes and will continue to do so.

In the amendment, the Government makes clear its commitment to scale-up capacity to deliver 300,000 homes by 2030 and to facilitate this through appropriate Government support to increase critical infrastructure capacity, including the electricity and water infrastructure. We will continue to do everything in our power to increase the capacity of critical infrastructure needed to support housing delivery and, in turn, increase housing supply for now and for the generations to come.

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