John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

As the Minister, Deputy Browne, has outlined, there has been a very significant package of measures announced yesterday to accelerate the delivery of housing and this will be built upon further in the housing plan, which will be published in the coming weeks. I would like to take a few moments to talk through a few of the areas within my own delegated functions.

These are local government and planning programmes, which combined will receive a total funding increase of €236 million across current and capital for 2026. There has rightly been a significant focus on planning in recent months as it is the engine that drives delivery. We are acutely aware of the frustrations in the system. We are working to cut red tape and simplify the process in removing items that do not need to be planning system through exempted development. Of course, the implementation of the national development plan and the national planning framework will rely heavily on our planning system.

We have heard loud and clear the need to resource and staff both An Coimisiún Pleanála and local authorities even further so they can achieve what the Government is asking them to do. An additional €7 million is being made available to An Coimisiún Pleanála to support its continued transformation. A new governing board has been established and a full complement of staff is being onboarded and supported. This funding will support the digital transformation project within an coimisiún as well as the introduction of statutory decision-making timelines in line with the Planning and Development Act 2024. I am happy to say to the House that an coimisiún has reduced the cases on hand from nearly 3,700 in May 2023 to approximately 1,350 cases in July of this year. All large-scale residential development applications have met their statutory objective period of 16 weeks since last September. In relation to local authority planning resources and supports, an additional €1 million has been made available to continue the progress made to date in delivering under the ministerial action plan on planning resources. This will be kept under review going forward.

On local government as a whole, in recognition of the continued critical importance of its role in delivering services for our citizens, the Exchequer will make a significant contribution of €670 million to the sector in 2026 through the Local Government Fund, representing an increase of €80 million on 2025. The contribution from central government will also fund €110 million towards local property tax equalisation to ensure that all local authorities, including those with weaker property tax bases, have a minimum level of non-programme funding available to them. I am pleased to confirm that any benefits from the LPT revaluation will go directly to the communities in which they are collected by way of a baseline increase expected to be in the region of €42 million. We are also now allowing surplus local authorities to retain a greater proportion of that surplus for their own use, which will increase their yield and help them contribute to vital programmes.

The Minister, Deputy Browne, referenced the derelict property tax. I will be very clear. The Government will not tolerate the continued dereliction and vacancy rates across this country. Local authorities have a role to play in identifying those. Through the derelict property tax announced in yesterday's budget, the Government is sending a very clear message that if people are not going to use the significant schemes it has put in place in recent years, they will be liable for this tax going forward, which is expected to be at a rate of at least 7%.

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