Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be joined by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. The Minister, Deputy Browne, cannot be here for the opening section of these statements because he is at a subcommittee meeting and otherwise engaged. He will be here, however, to give concluding statements. He will be kept up to date as to the comments made during the statements from right across the House.

I welcome the opportunity to come before the House to speak on this most important issue of homelessness and the work being undertaken by this Government in responding to it. I will set out how the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, is building on the progress made in recent years to increase housing delivery across the board and social housing, in particular. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, will outline specifically how the plan will ensure the provision of supports to older people and vulnerable cohorts in our society. The Minister, Deputy Browne, will conclude the discussion by outlining the many actions in the new housing plan that are specifically targeted at ending homelessness.

The Government is acutely aware that homelessness is the single most pressing social issue that we face and the impact that experiences of homelessness have on households and children, in particular. With this in mind, the programme for Government and the new housing plan reaffirmed lreland’s commitment to working towards ending homelessness by 2030.

Increased supply is key to addressing homelessness. Last year saw the highest number of homes completed in more than a decade. More than 36,000 were completed. Delivering Homes, Building Communities builds on the achievements and progress already made under Housing for All to further accelerate housing delivery. The key difference between Housing for All and this plan is a greater emphasis on creating the environment for more homes. To deliver more homes at speed, the State will do more but this plan will also empower others, particularly those in the private sector, to play their part.

A significantly greater supply of housing can be achieved through a balanced approach focused on both directly supporting people to have a home of their own but also creating the best possible conditions for the industry to build and to activate more homes. This new plan commits to the building of 300,000 new homes. By the end of 2030, there will be 72,000 additional new-build social homes, built for those in our society who need them most.

Our goal remains a housing system that truly serves the needs of our people. That is why we are committed to also providing 90,000 affordable housing supports. Delivering Homes, Building Communities is ambitious, but the Government is fully committed to making it a reality. This is an integrated housing and homelessness plan that reaffirms the whole-of-government approach to addressing the housing crisis. It will ensure that the funding and the strategies deployed to address housing and homelessness are fully aligned at all times.

The plan will build on progress already made. In 2023 and 2024, we saw delivery of newly built social housing reach levels not seen since the 1970s, with almost 16,000 social homes built. Between July 2020 and the end of quarter 3 of 2025, over 52,300 social homes were added to the social housing stock and more than 14,100 homes were brought back into use under the voids programme. The pipeline is also strong. The latest construction status report showed over 25,000 social homes at all stages of design and build in Ireland at the end of September 2025.

Direct funding for housing is at record levels. In 2026 alone, over €9 billion in capital funding will be provided through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and the Housing Finance Agency, HFA. Affordable housing schemes are now operating at scale and the affordable housing delivery programme continues to be expanded and developed year on year, supported by unprecedented levels of State investment. The Government will continue to bring forward measures that will increase the supply of new homes across all tenures to make sure that everyone has a range of housing options available to them. More than 18,900 affordable housing supports were provided by quarter 3 of 2025, increasing home ownership for families and ordinary workers.

Over the past five years, almost 149,000 new homes have been delivered. This is significant progress, which must be recognised. It also gives the Government a strong platform to scale up housing delivery and under our new plan, we are focused on delivery. This will not be easy and there is no one single solution that will solve the housing challenges we face. Delivering Homes, Building Communities takes pragmatic action across a number of different policy areas to boost housing supply while ensuring that the new homes delivered support the people who need them the most. These two key objectives provide the foundational pillars in the plan: activating supply and supporting people. The first pillar, activating supply, is about removing structural barriers to homebuilding and ensuring we deliver 300,000 new homes in the lifetime of this plan. This includes measures aimed at unlocking land, reforming planning, delivering infrastructure and creating the conditions needed to increase investment in housing supply.

Reaching the target of 300,000 new homes will only be achieved through the individual and collective effort of the key delivery partners. Local authorities, together with approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and the construction sector, will be critical to delivering and enabling the delivery of the quantum of homes needed over the lifetime of the plan. Central government will provide the policy, regulatory and funding frameworks to support housing delivery.

Further to this, Delivering Homes, Building Communities is enabled by the largest ever capital investment in the history of the State. A total of €275 billion will be invested over the next ten years under the national development plan to significantly upgrade our infrastructure and make the environment for building homes much better. This cannot be overstated. This includes almost €20 billion to support the delivery of the 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable home supports over the next five years. It also includes €12.2 billion for water and wastewater services and €3.5 billion in equity funding for ESB Networks and EirGrid to make sure that we have the capacity in these vital services to make housing connections as and when they are needed. The Uisce Éireann investment is particularly significant.

In January this year, the Government announced a new multi-annual €1 billion housing infrastructure investment fund to support direct investment in housing enabling infrastructure. The new fund will be managed by the housing activation office and will complement investment by infrastructure agencies, such as Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks, as part of a more co-ordinated approach. It will focus on projects that can move quickly and at scale. We want strong, deliverable projects that can hit the ground running and start unblocking housing delivery immediately.

Housing delivery is at the centre of the revised national development plan. We are investing €102 billion over the next five years, an additional €33.9 billion on the previous national development plan allocation. Overall investment of over €40 billion will be provided for housing and related water services to 2030. This funding will support vital water infrastructure projects, address historical bottlenecks in the system and accelerate us towards our delivery targets.

Over the lifetime of this plan, we will deliver an average of 12,000 new social homes each year. That is an unprecedented commitment. In parallel, we will provide an average of 15,000 affordable housing supports annually through the starter homes programme and related initiatives.

The help-to-buy and first home schemes continue to bridge the gap for first-time buyers struggling with deposits and mortgage limits. These schemes are not abstract policy instruments. They are enabling thousands of households to purchase their first homes.

Budget 2026 has continued the record level of investment in social housing, with €2.9 billion in capital allocated to support the delivery of social homes by local authorities. This continued investment in the social housing programme will increase the supply of stock available to allocate to households on the social housing waiting list, including households in emergency accommodation.

I am acutely aware of the profound impact homelessness has on individuals, particularly children, and addressing homelessness is a key priority under Delivering Homes, Building Communities. It is only through the increased provision of housing that we will begin to see a consistent drop in the numbers accessing emergency accommodation. We do not underestimate the scale of the challenge. We recognise that a radical step change is needed in housing supply. That is why we are using every lever at our disposal. We remain steadfast in our commitment to meet the challenge head on and ensure all those who aspire to independence in the housing market can realise their aspiration.

I hope we can work in a collaborative way across the House so we can continue to increase the supply of housing. I look forward to hearing Members’ views and perspectives on this vital matter.

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