James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

The Government has supported, and will continue to support, a targeted second-hand social housing acquisition programme, which responds to the needs of the most vulnerable. The Government increased the 2025 budget for second-hand social housing acquisition programme from the €60 million available under Housing for All to €325 million.

This has given local authorities the flexibility within their programmes to respond to needs locally.

The clear focus of Government is to increase the supply of new-build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge, particularly in preventing and ultimately eliminating long-term homelessness.

The Government is also committed to supporting the needs of specific groups through a range of measures and supports to improve the delivery and standard of housing for Travellers, disabled people and older people in conjunction with key stakeholders, particularly local authorities and the affordable housing sector. Traveller-specific accommodation funding has been fully drawn down by local authorities in recent years, from 2020 to 2024, resulting in more than €100 million in capital investment in Traveller-specific accommodation. My Department also offers grants, such as the housing aid for older people and grants which help older people with necessary repairs and improvements. We are also addressing the critical infrastructure challenges being faced as a result of the massive and rapidly increasing population in this country.

These are just some of the measures introduced by this Government and the previous Government under Housing for All. We will continue to work hard to deliver the housing needed in this country.

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