Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I would encourage the Deputy to put his cynicism to one side and look at budget 2026. It contains a record allocation of over €9 billion for housing capital investment. This has been a major issue that has come back to us in the consultation on Our Rural Future. The vacant property refurbishment grant provided by the Department of housing is really important in rural areas. A sum of €165 million has been allocated for the vacant property refurbishment grant for 2026.

Generally, in terms of our work on Our Rural Future, there was a 7% increase in the population of highly rural, remote areas between 2011 and 2022. There are serious disparities within that and I am trying to get in under that bonnet to ensure we assist those areas. Planning permissions have been granted for almost 6,000 one-off homes, on average, each year since 2020 and 90% of those are in rural settings. We will continue to work with the Minister, Deputy Browne, particularly on the necessary infrastructure for house building, such as water and sewerage. Is iad cursaí uisce agus cúrsaí séarachais go háirithe sna ceantair Gaeltachta na dúshláin gur gá duinn a réiteach le haghaidh infreastruchtúir. We will work closely with the Minister on that, the planning guidelines and the other issues I have discussed.

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