James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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6. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is confident that all key housing indicators are continuing on a positive trajectory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15672/24]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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35. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his assessment of the number of commencement notices, that is, residential construction starts, to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15671/24]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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49. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homes completed in Cork in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15653/24]

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and wish him well in his role. I acknowledge the courtesy, time and effort given to us by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, while he was in the role. Deputy Dillon has big shoes to fill.

Is the Minister confident that all the key housing indicators are continuing on a positive trajectory? Will he refer specifically to the continuing challenges in rural Ireland?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 35 and 49 together.

At its core, Housing for All seeks to significantly increase the supply of quality, affordable housing. The plan comprises a suite of priority measures to transform our housing system, secure its sustainability into the future and support the delivery of more than 300,000 new homes by 2030. This will see an average of 33,000 new homes delivered for each year of the plan, rising to more than 40,000 per year by the end of the decade. Securing the level of investment required to support this delivery is critical. Accordingly, the Government is making record State funding available for housing. Some €5.1 billion is committed for 2024, which is the highest ever provision in the history of the State. The Government has introduced a range of measures to ensure a balanced delivery of homes for private ownership, social housing and private rental. Output in 2022 and 2023 shows we are clearly right on track. All key indicators, namely planning permissions, commencements and completions, continue to trend upwards, auguring well for 2025 and beyond.

Supply is increasing year on year, with a substantial uplift in the number of new homes delivered since the launch of Housing for All in 2021. The most recent completions data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show more than 29,700 new homes were completed in 2022, and 32,600 in 2023, which are the first two full years of Housing for All implementation. New home delivery last year was at its highest level in 15 years. It was 10% higher than in 2022 and 13% higher than the Housing for All target of 29,000 for 2023. More than half of housing delivered in the past decade has been delivered in the past four years, with 103,000 new homes built during that period. This progress is being mirrored at local level across the country. For example, the quantum of new homes delivered in Cork city and county has increased by one third since 2019. More than 3,100 new homes were delivered there in 2023, comprising 1,044 in Cork city and 2,064 in the county.

While housing supply continues to be impacted by external factors, including construction cost inflation, high interest rates and skilled labour shortages, the outlook for this year and next is equally promising. Planning permission was granted for 41,225 new homes in 2023, which was an increase of 21% on 2022 and not far off the levels seen in 2020 and 2021. At the same time, commencement activity increased significantly in 2023. The 32,801 new homes commenced was the highest annual figure for a calendar year in the past decade. The momentum has continued in 2024, with 7,056 new homes commenced in the first two months, which is a massive increase of 72% on the same period last year. Rolling 12-month commencements for the period to the end of February were more than 35,750, which is an increase of 33% on the same period ending February 2023. Indeed, rolling 12-month commencements have been above 32,800 in each of the past three months.

Initial forecasts suggest the target of 33,450 new homes for 2024 will be met. Moreover, robust planning permissions and strengthening commencement activity over the past 12 months suggest the substantial uplift in housing delivery in 2022 and 2023 can be sustained into 2025. Housing for All is clearly delivering. I am confident the funding and targeted schemes committed to under the plan will continue to support an increased supply of affordable housing across all tenures, whether social, private rented or private purchase, right across the country.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It is evident that Housing for All is working. I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Ministers of State and officials in the Department, as well as the hard-working teams in local authorities right across the country. It would be remiss of me not to mention the team in County Longford. In the first six months of this year, the council will successfully tenant 82 new properties and, in addition, complete the regeneration of the 26 units in Colmcille Terrace that were promised by the previous Government. That regeneration is being delivered under the current Minister. The provision also includes 13 houses in the small village of Aughnacliffe and a further 20 in Ballymahon.

Challenges remain but we are seeing real successes. Never have I been as convinced of the conviction of the Minister and the Department to address them as I am now. It is interesting to note that although we hear a lot about waiting lists, we have seen waiting lists fall in Longford in the lifetime of the Government. They are down 45% between 2019 and 2022. In addition, the council has brought 141 houses back into use through the voids programme. The Department has put considerable weight behind that scheme. I thank the Minister of State for his continued support for local authorities.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments. It is encouraging to consider the really wonderful progress being made by Longford County Council. That progress is mirrored right across the country. There is no doubt that local authorities are showing ambition, led by the Government and underpinned by record funding, to deliver housing of all tenure types. In particular, the Government is conscious that delivering in rural communities is equally as important as delivering in the large urban centres. To that end, the funding provided to Uisce Éireann to put in place wastewater infrastructure is critical. The efforts are showing dividends. Rural housing is critically important in sustaining rural communities in County Longford and elsewhere. The schemes in place to bring vacant dwellings back into use are delivering really significant housing output. They are delivering for communities. As I said previously, we will be reviewing the housing targets, underpinned by research from the ESRI, later this year.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It is a truly extraordinary achievement, considering where we have come from, that we are on the cusp of breaching delivery of 34,000 houses this year. If we were to believe some in the Opposition, there is no building going on anywhere in the country. Yet, driving into Dublin, one sees cranes everywhere. In every provincial town in Ireland, there is large-scale house-building under way.

In Longford, we are seeing considerable success for first-time buyers, with the provision to them of 305 out of 378 new homes. I commend the Department and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on the help-to-buy scheme. It is a really successful scheme that has given a real and meaningful opportunity to young people across Ireland to build their first home. We are making real progress. It is progress that is sustainable. I have no doubt that over the last year of the lifetime of the Government, we will see considerable further success thanks to the hard work of the Department.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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The Minister of State spoke about the importance of building houses in rural areas. It is interesting to look at the housing commencements for last year on a per capita basis. The numbers are much higher for Dublin, of course, but we can look at a county like Kildare. For every 80 people in County Kildare, one house was built. It is important to state that these numbers are on a per capita basis, which means they are fair to begin with. In Sligo, there was one house built for every 273 people. Leitrim had one house built for every 248 people. Roscommon had one for every 570 people. Yes, houses are being built but the vast majority of them are in areas outside the north-west region. What action is the Minister of State taking to counteract that?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank Deputies Flaherty and Harkin for their contributions. Right across the country, we are seeing a significant increase in housing commencements. It is the responsibility of local authorities to show ambition. As I said, Housing for All is underpinned by record State funding. The local authorities, through their housing strategies, must ensure serviced land is available and that they are meeting the infrastructural requirements and meeting the demand that is there for all tenure types.

Schemes like Croí Cónaithe are delivering, particularly in small rural towns and villages, where refurbishment commencements are starting to deliver. We need to see more. There is still considerable dereliction in our small towns and villages and that needs to be addressed very proactively. Resources have been put into local authorities to try to achieve that. I appreciate the comments the Deputy is making but delivery is happening and the Government has not been found wanting in providing the resources or various schemes to ensure delivery.