Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that: — decades of underfunding by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments, in our water and electricity infrastructure, have created significant constraints to the increased delivery of public and private housing;

— the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has warned that data centres pose a risk to increased housing delivery, due to constraints in the electricity grid;

— Uisce Éireann have said that meeting the Government's revised housing targets would require a significant increase in capital funding, above their current programme to increase water and wastewater capacity in urban and rural areas;

— the Irish Home Builders Association have repeatedly warned that the electricity grid, drinking water, wastewater capacity and connections are a constraint on housing delivery; and

— the Government's proposed Housing Activation Office does not have the emergency powers underpinned by legislation as called for by the Housing Commission; and agrees that the Government must: — as a matter of urgency, set out its plans for the funding of, and delivery of, increased capacity of critical infrastructure required for the delivery of housing, including the electricity grid, drinking water and wastewater;

— fully implement the Housing Commission's proposal for a housing delivery oversight executive, with emergency powers underpinned by legislation; and

— properly resource our planning system, to ensure timely decisions are made on applications for the delivery of critical infrastructure and new housing.

Almost every second day, newspapers are covering the failure of the Government and its predecessors to invest in critical infrastructure and the consequential increasing risk to the delivery of housing. Only two weeks ago, the Saturday edition of the Irish Daily Mail revealed a story from Sinn Féin MEP, Lynn Boylan, highlighting the concerns of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities about the lack of grid capacity and the use of grid capacity by data centres putting the Government's housing targets at risk. Only a day or two later, The Irish Times on its front page talked about how ESB Networks's grid capacities were putting housing developments at risk across the State. It talked about Celbridge, Portlaoise, Navan, Cork and elsewhere. The following day, The Irish Times revealed information from a freedom of information request that, last year, the Government deliberately misled the House by claiming it was allocating an additional €1 billion of new money for Uisce Éireann to increase the capacity of water and wastewater treatment plants in urban and rural Ireland when it was not additional money. It was simply for its current capital programme. Yesterday, The Irish Times highlighted the important proposed masterplan of Dublin City Council in Ballyboggan of potentially 6,000 new homes and possibly even more. Again, Uisce Éireann says that because of delays in the planning system - delays caused by the failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to resource that system - those are also now potentially at risk. Today in the Irish Examiner, Cork County Council speaks about how the lack of investment in critical infrastructure, particularly water, means no new homes can be built. In fact, it was the Fianna Fáil mayor and Fine Gael councillors who were most critical of how their Government's failure to invest in infrastructure was causing these problems.

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, blames everyone else for the problems in our planning system. It is the fault of residents associations or environmental groups. Deputy Chambers, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform was at it only a week ago. Everyone knows that the key problem in our planning system is a lack of staffing in our councils, An Bord Pleanála and the environmental and planning court that deals with judicial reviews. Despite the fact the Government has been repeatedly called upon to provide this additional funding and staffing, it has failed to so. Therefore, we have a situation where the Government has finally decided to increase its housing targets, which are still too low, in the national planning framework, but failure to invest in water, electricity and planning has meant it will not be able to meet its own targets unless something urgent is done. That is why we tabled this motion on these crucial issues.

The fact that the Minister has refused to fully implement the Housing Commission's recommendation on a housing delivery oversight executive with emergency powers underpinned by legislation shows that he does not understand the extent of the problem, although it was interesting that Simon Harris suggested he might be open to the idea of legislation. I suspect he did not talk to the Minister about that before he spoke publicly.

We have set out over and over again in our alternative housing plan and our manifesto what needs to be done. The local authorities have told the Government that they need an additional 500 planning staff to deal with their existing workload, and that is before the enactment of the controversial Planning and Development Act 2024. An Bord Pleanála needs another 30 staff above those sanctioned by the Minister's predecessor and at least another three judges are needed on the environment and planning court of the High Court to deal with judicial reviews.

We also need statutory timelines at all stages of the planning process. Despite the fact we proposed these by way of amendments during the debates on the Planning and Development Act, they were rejected by the Government. We also need significant increased investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. As the Minister will be aware, Uisce Éireann has requested an additional €2 billion. We have yet to hear the Government's response to that. We also need increased investment in our grid capacity to ensure connections are available and, of course, we need the full implementation of the Housing Commission's recommendation. The housing activation office does not do that.

It is time for the Government to stop blaming everyone else. It is the Government's responsibility and its failure to invest in critical infrastructure is causing the problem. It is the Government's failure to invest in staffing in our planning system as well as its controversial proposed changes to the planning system that are causing so many delays. Ultimately, it is the Government's failure to invest in the delivery of genuinely affordable homes that is causing so many difficulties for working people. On that basis, I commend the motion to the House and urge the Minister not to continue repeating the mistakes of the past, but to respond to the situation with the urgency that is required. Otherwise, he will not even be able to meet the Government's own modest housing targets.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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In Galway city and county, we have already seen the impact of the lack of investment in key and basic infrastructure on the delivery, or lack thereof, of housing. Let us take Galway city east as an example. It is the place I live in and the place where we want to see the development of more homes. We need to see the development of new homes, yet there has not been the required investment in the wastewater treatment plant. There has been a delay in that. We need to see that investment happen in order for housing to be delivered on the east side of the city. If we do not have delivery of housing on the east side of the city, it will have a serious impact.

In the Gaeltacht areas, we have another issue with the lack of serviced sites. In the Gaeltacht region of south Connemara, the county council has no access to serviced sites to be able to deliver housing, whether it be affordable or social housing. As a result, we have seen the impact. We have seen campaign groups forming, for example, BÁNÚ and TINTEÁN, where young people are coming together to say they want to be able to live and raise families in the Gaeltacht but they cannot do so because of the lack of investment in basic and key infrastructure by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments.

Tá sé feicthe agam go díreach céard nach bhfuil déanta ag rialtais de chuid Fhianna Fáil agus Fhine Gael le blianta anuas. Ní raibh an infheistíocht chuí déanta sa mbuninfreastruchtúr ionas gur féidir tithe a thógáil. Má bhreathnaíonn muid ar chathair na Gaillimhe, is féidir linn breathnú ar an easpa córas fuíolluisce in oirthear chathair na Gaillimhe, áit nach féidir tithe a thógáil mar gheall nach bhfuil sé sin ann. Má bhreathnaíonn muid ar an nGaeltacht, tá an rud ceannann céanna ann. Níl suíomhanna ná talamh ag an gcomhairle contae, áit atá na seirbhísí ann, ionas gur féidir leo tithe a thógáil. Is cinnte nach bhfuil siad in ann tithe inacmhainne nó tithe sóisialta a thógáil. Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil leithéidí BÁNÚ agus TINTEÁN ann agus ag feachtasaíocht agus ag rá go bhfuil siad ag iarraidh a bheith ina gcónaí sa Ghaeltacht ach níl na suíomhanna sin ag an gcomhairle contae chun é sin a chur i bhfeidhm.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I was mystified by the approach of the Government to housing. I was mystified during the election campaign but I am twice as mystified now. From committing to things that would make things worse, it has moved on to implementing things that would make things worse, such as the rent pressure zones and effectively getting rid of crucial tenant protections such as the tenant in situ scheme. That complements the fact that the Government's policy is not really addressing the key obstacles to housing and will not deliver housing at an affordable level. Many people in my city and county of Cork and across the country are doing everything right. They are doing everything they can. They are saving, working, trying to improve their education and training and so on, but housing remains out of reach for them. There is a whole category of people who do not qualify for social housing but the affordable housing schemes will not do anything for them. The schemes are not within the reach of those people. That is also held back by the infrastructure issues.

I have talked to small and large builders and developers. They are frustrated with Uisce Éireann and compare it to the times of city and county councils when things were far from perfect, but the difference now is that it is slowing everything down. It is blocking crucial housing infrastructure.

I also flag to the Minister the issue of the R624. The Minister was in the docklands in Cork recently. There is huge potential there. We need to get it right. Housing there needs to be affordable. It cannot only be apartments for people on high incomes. A community needs to be built there. One of the key sites there - the Gouldings site - will potentially have 1,300 units. The Gouldings site cannot go ahead until Gouldings can relocate to farther out in the harbour. That is being held up because of the condition of the R624, which includes Belvelly Bridge, a 200-year-old bridge. There has not been enough investment in that infrastructure. It might seem like a local road, but it potentially unlocks a key strategic site. I urge the Minister to meet Cork County Council and Cork City Council to figure this out. There is a huge site there that has massive potential. It needs to deliver affordable housing and communities, but it will not deliver anything until the issue with the R624 is resolved.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Decades of failures by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments to plan for the expansion of key water, wastewater and electricity infrastructure is part of the reason the same Governments have failed to get to grips with the housing crisis. I asked the then Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about these issues in 2023. Typical to form, he denied there was a problem at all. He replied to me saying there was enough water supply and wastewater treatment at Uisce Éireann plants to support the need for housing developments. He was wrong; it was clearly not the case. This was symptomatic of his approach and of the inability of this Government to plan and prepare at all.

In my constituency, the Government's failure to address water and wastewater facilities has seen delays in delivering much-needed housing. In towns and villages across counties Cavan and Monaghan, we have local developers ready to build desperately needed houses. The reason they cannot is because of this Government's failures. In towns like Kingscourt and villages like Clontibret, builders are set to build houses but are prevented from doing so because local wastewater treatment plants are not up to standard. Where the plans do exist to upgrade the plants, the timeframe is years away. Where plans are not in place, we are talking about decades if the failed approach by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continues. This means a worsening housing crisis, ever-increasing house prices and more and more of our young people leaving Ireland because it is the only chance they have of sourcing a home they can afford. Sinn Féin is demanding action. The incompetence must end. There must be proper investment in water, wastewater and energy infrastructure as well as in the planning system and the courts.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I was recently speaking to one of the housing officials in Kerry County Council who described the housing situation in the county as being "like a jungle out there". Rather than doing something about it, the plan from the Government is going to make things worse. The problems with critical infrastructure are so acute that they are preventing the delivery of new homes and are a result of bad planning, mismanagement and underinvestment by successive Governments. This is the fundamental difference with the Government's simplistic plan. It keeps repeating time after time that we just need more units when it knows the situation is way more complex.

In County Kerry, development in too many areas is at a total standstill. In villages such as Ballyduff, Abbeydorney, Fenit, Glenbeigh and Castlegregory there is no wastewater infrastructure or, if there is, it is a 30- or 40-year-old Imhoff tank. Development cannot continue. People in the council, who are working hard and trying to do their best, are paralysed by the lack of direction from the Government, with no serviced sites and no affordable housing plan that they have been instructed to complete. The critical infrastructure deficits are also doing untold damage to the local economy, business activity and tourism development. Even doctors' surgeries cannot be developed because of the lack of money and a plan from the Government. Uisce Éireann wants €2 billion extra. What is happening with that?

We need more grid capacity and we need it fast. However, it is not just about increasing capacity. It is also about who gets priority. Connections to the electricity grid now are done on a first-come, first-served basis. As a result, all the new capacity is being gobbled up by data centres. It does not have to be this way. The regulator in the Netherlands has the power to prioritise new connections for Dutch Government objectives, if the Dutch Government has objectives such as housing. New housing could be first in the queue rather than last, so why have we not done this? Why have we not introduced the necessary legislative infrastructure to make a difference? Housing developments are not proceeding because booming data centre demand has monopolised the new connections. It is time for action in this regard.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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I do not think anyone can deny that the current state of the electricity grid, our drinking water supply and the wastewater network is a constraint on housing delivery. These issues are also inflicting misery on many areas afflicted by frequent water mains failures or boil water notices. One area in my constituency - Knocklyon - has been hit with almost 30 outages in the past three years. There is clearly something wrong. Over the Easter bank holiday, residents in Dargle Wood were left without water for four days as Irish Water struggled to repair the damage after a water main failed on the Saturday. Those residents were left without water until the Tuesday. At least two other water mains have burst since then further up the line, so there is clearly a problem. It is all confined to a particular area and the local residents are beyond frustrated with the lack of attention or resolution to their difficulties. Many of the residents blame this problem on a development on what was known as Cosgrave's land, an area named after the former Taoiseach. Hundreds of apartments were built in the neighbouring area and it seems the original water structure is not able to cope with the added demand and required pressure. I ask the Minister to make inquiries to see if anything can be done in this regard.

Before I finish, I recall what the tradition was years ago. When there is a sewage problem now, it is the people at the end of the mains who are caught out. They are the ones who have to collect the money off the other residents in this regard. Traditionally, it would have been the council's job to do it. I ask the Minister to again look at this aspect. That old system was one that worked. The council collected the money and charged the residents. It worked in the past, but the system is not working now. Unfortunately, the people at the end of the pipeline are those who have to suffer.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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The lack of a proper road in Cobh has stifled plans for more than 1,300 council houses in the area. This is one of the reasons An Bord Pleanála gave for refusing an application by a company to move into the former IFI plant in Marino Point. We also have a massive tourism industry in Cobh, but our only bridge is the Belvelly Bridge. Under the current plans, we have heard it will be this way for at least ten years. It is dangerous for visitors travelling in and out of this tourist destination, but it is unbelievable for the commuters coming in and out of Cobh every day.

We are talking about water and Uisce Éireann. We have had boil water notices in Whitegate now for ten years, on and off. Uisce Éireann is probably the worst company to have to engage with. You have a better chance of emptying the Red Sea with a bucket with no ass in it than getting a reply from Irish Water or Uisce Éireann.

We are also always talking about critical infrastructure. I have raised this issue many times. I have written to TII and the NTA perhaps three to four times annually. I refer to Youghal railway and getting connectivity in east Cork. It would open up a massive corridor for development, housing and so on. I call on all the relevant Ministers, including those for transport and housing, to get all the Departments working together.

I have been listening to talk of capacity since I was on the council. I remember when Uisce Éireann came along and what it told Cork County Council about one of the local development plans. I think Monard was the village planned. The county council was basically told to buzz off and that Uisce Éireann was not going to bring water and sewage services in there. I raised the issue in the County Hall at the time and asked the council officials if it was true that Irish Water, as it was at the time, was telling the council where we could and could not build houses.

This issue is vital. People are scratching their heads. I ask the Government to please not be a reactive one like we have had for the past several years. I ask it to try to be a proactive Government and to listen to everybody. We can work together. If we do not have the critical infrastructure, we will not have affordable housing and we will start to lose a generation.

Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thank my colleague Deputy Ó Broin for his work on this motion. Right across counties Carlow and Kilkenny, we have towns and villages crying out for an increase in housing. These towns and villages have prime sites for housing developments that are unusable simply because the Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has failed to invest in adequate and fit-for-purpose infrastructure. It is common sense to plan for the future, but this has clearly not been the case across County Kilkenny when it comes to water and sewage treatment infrastructure. Castlecomer, a community of more than 2,000 people, does not even have adequate access to fresh water. Boil notices and water restrictions are a common occurrence. How is this acceptable in 2025? Bennettsbridge is the next town with works planned to upgrade infrastructure but it will be more than four years until these works even begin.

Communities across south Kilkenny, like my own village of Knocktopher, as well as Ballyhale and Mullinavat, have no planned works to upgrade local infrastructure. Simply put, this means no new housing developments being built in the coming years. This is crippling these communities and impacting everything from schools to shops to local sports teams. People there do not want to move and leave they communities they were raised in, but they are being pushed out as a result of decades of underinvestment across rural Ireland. We need to see a step change from this Government, with no more passing of the blame around. It is time this Government set out a clear plan for increased investment in water, electricity and sewage infrastructure and a plan that has the resources behind it to ensure it is fully implemented.

7 o’clock

I am afraid, as things stand, that there will be no housing targets. This has to be looked at.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"acknowledges that:

— population growth in recent years has been higher than anticipated, bringing a requirement for enhanced infrastructure and services, and the annual increase in population of 1.3 per cent, between Census 2016 and 2022, has exceeded the forecast increase of 0.8 per cent that underpinned the National Planning Framework in 2018;

— high population growth has been a driver of strong economic growth, and there are now a record number of people at work in Ireland, and this population requires housing and supporting infrastructure; and

— there has also been a growth in energy demand and in the energy intensity required for modern manufacturing and large-scale servers, due to the requirements of modern technology; recognises that: — the measures introduced under Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland, have helped establish a solid platform to 'scale-up' delivery of housing in the short-term, and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us meet fully unmet and emerging housing demand;

— the measures committed to in the Programme for Government, including a new housing plan building on the successes of Housing for All, will help us meet the enormous challenge of delivering more than 300,000 new homes by 2030;

— a record level of investment is being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding now available of almost €6.8 billion;

— the Government's new national housing plan will incorporate pragmatic actions to boost housing activity in the short-term, coupled with strategic deliverables to drive comprehensive systemic change and subsequent increase in supply into the long-term;

— there have been record levels of investment in infrastructure under the current National Development Plan for the period 2021 to 2031;

— Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure, from €300 million in 2014, to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024, and for 2025, the Exchequer will provide just over €2.2 billion in funding to Uisce Éireann;

— our water networks will require ongoing and sustained investment to bring these up to the required standard of treatment, to deal with population and housing growth, and to adapt to the impacts of climate change;

— the Programme for Government commits to investing additional capital in Uisce Éireann, and this is being considered in the context of the ongoing review of the National Development Plan;

— Ireland is currently experiencing high demand for new electrical connections driven by population growth, industrial development and accelerated electrification targets;

— over the last four years, ESB Networks has connected over 147,000 homes and businesses to the distribution network;

— in response to increased demand, the electricity system operators, ESB Networks and EirGrid, have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026-2030, and the Government looks forward to the conclusion of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities Price Review Six strategy, which will provide a clear framework for investment in the electricity grid;

— the Government has established a new Infrastructure Division, that will lead infrastructure reform, overseen by the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce;

— the Government has established a new Housing Activation Office (HAO), to identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development, through the alignment of funding and coordination of infrastructure providers;

— the HAO will engage and align stakeholders, including local authorities, utility and infrastructure providers, industry and others, to ensure that infrastructure blockages are addressed in a coordinated way in order to enable housing development, and it will focus on infrastructure needed at a local or district level to support housing delivery on multiple sites, including social and community infrastructure needed to support the development of sustainable communities;

— legislative and system level reform of the planning system is progressing;

— the Government is prioritising the commencement of the Planning and Development Act 2024, on a phased basis, and the Act represents the most comprehensive review of planning legislation since 2000, and will reform and streamline the planning process, and support timely decision making for housing and strategic infrastructure projects;

— the Government is committed to improving the capacity and performance of the planning system, through the implementation of the Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources, approved in 2024; and

— on 30th April, 2025, Dáil Éireann approved the Revised National Planning Framework, and this provides the basis for the review and updating of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy 2019-2031, and local authority development plans to reflect critical matters such as updated housing figures or projected jobs growth, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes; and affirms Government efforts to: — prioritise infrastructure development as a critical means for increasing housing supply, noting the Government's commitments in the Programme for Government including, for example, the commitment to invest in water and energy infrastructure under the National Development Plan;

— resource a new HAO, to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development;

— expand the capacity of the construction sector as another key measure to scale up housing and critical infrastructure delivery to the levels necessary by 2030;

— deliver on the far ranging commitments in the Programme for Government, and informed by the Housing Commission's proposals for the long-term reform of the housing system, accepting this is an appropriate response to the current housing challenges which Ireland is now facing; and

— deliver on the commitments in the Programme for Government relating to implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024, the Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources and implementation of the Revised National Planning Framework.".

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Government's countermotion to outline the progress that has been made to date by this and the previous Government's Housing for All plan. I will set out what we are doing to build on that plan, and our ongoing commitments to meet the significant housing and critical infrastructure challenges facing us as a nation.

As all of us in this Chamber know, housing is a cross-sectoral societal challenge that has a real impact on people's lives. I reassert this Government's commitment to addressing the housing crisis by implementing Housing for All and the suite of measures outlined in the programme for Government, which will form the basis of the updated plan later this summer. We do not underestimate the scale of the challenge, which is why we are considering every possible lever at our disposal. However, it is important to acknowledge that we are not starting from scratch. We are building on progress already made on housing delivery and providing the critical infrastructure needed to support that housing delivery. In this regard, Housing for All sets out a comprehensive and ambitious multi-annual programme to accelerate and significantly increase the delivery of new homes. This ambition is reflected in the record level of investment that has been provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding of almost €6.8 billion now available and a further €1.65 billion in current funding available to address housing need.

While much still needs to be done, the step-change in delivery in recent years has helped many households achieve autonomy in the housing market. More than 133,000 houses have been delivered since 2020. Some 500 first-time buyers are purchasing their first home every week, many with the support of Government schemes such as the help to buy scheme, which has supported more than 50,000 homeowners since its introduction, and the first homes scheme, which has 6,774 approvals and has enabled more than 3,000 first-time buyers to purchase homes. It should be said that these are two schemes that Sinn Féin opposes and wants to abolish. Contrast that to the Cabinet approval today of a further €30 million in Exchequer funding for the extension of the first homes scheme for another two years to facilitate the purchase of approximately 1,200 more affordable homes.

While scaling up capacity to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030 will be an enormous challenge, it can be facilitated through appropriate Government support to increase the capacity of critical infrastructure and the construction sector in the coming years. Much of the foundation from which to build has been laid, but it will take a laser-sharp focus on all levers available to the State to facilitate this growth. One such lever is in the area of infrastructure development. The Government has already established a new infrastructure division within the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

The motion refers to the Housing Commission's proposal for a housing delivery oversight executive. Having had regard to the recommendation of the Housing Commission, the Government has established a new housing activation office to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development. This office will identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects, be they roads, drainage, power, water or whatever else is needed to ensure that development happens. The office has been established on a non-statutory basis in the first instance as this was the quickest route to its establishment. It will work through collaboration, dedicated funding under the new towns and cities investment fund and with the support of all of government. The Minister will appoint a head of office in due course, but for now we have commenced staffing it with the appropriate experts from planning and intend to bring in seconded experts from other utility sectors and local authorities who will together inform what is needed on the ground to ensure all the various providers are strategically aligned at a national level and synchronised at a local level.

Specifically with regard to improvements to our public water and wastewater services, we are delivering a sustainable funding path to Uisce Éireann to deliver for current and future growth. There have been record levels of Government funding in water services and investment by Uisce Éireann over the past decade. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure from €300 million in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024. For 2025, the Exchequer will provide slightly more than €2.2 billion in funding to Uisce Éireann. The programme for Government also commits to investing additional capital investment in Uisce Éireann to support housing development in our cities, towns and villages. This is being considered in the context of the national development plan review, which will be completed in the coming months.

In response to increased demand on the electricity system, the operators - ESB Networks and EirGrid - have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030. The Government is awaiting the conclusion of the sixth price review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. This will provide a clear framework for investment in the electricity grid, which the Government is committed to supporting. The enactment of the Planning and Development Act in October 2024 updates and streamlines the planning system to provide clarity, consistency and certainty. Commencement of the Act is a key priority for the Minister, Deputy Browne, and me.

The motion further calls for resourcing of our planning system to ensure timely decisions are made on applications for the delivery of critical infrastructure and new housing. It is for this reason that the ministerial action plan on planning resources was approved last year. Approval of 101 posts issued in October 2023 and in January this year a further approval issued for 112 posts, consisting of 56 graduate planner posts and 56 staff officer posts, to support the planning function within local authorities. An Bord Pleanála has also had its sanctioned staff increased to 313 from around 160 in 2022. This has assisted with tackling the backlog in the organisation and sets it up to meet its statutory timelines under the new Planning and Development Act. The revised national planning framework also provides a basis for the review and updating of regional, spatial and economic strategies and local authority development plans to reflect critical matters such as updated housing figures and projected jobs growth, including through the zoning of land for residential employment and a range of other purposes.

This Government is dedicated to ensuring the continued success of Housing for All and implementing the far-ranging commitments of the programme for Government. In its countermotion the Government highlights the substantial progress made to date, and how we will continue to build on this progress because nobody is saying that what we are currently doing is enough. Of course, we need to do more, and we will utilise every lever at our disposal, as I have outlined, to ensure we increase the delivery of the necessary critical infrastructure to increase housing supply, address affordability challenges and provide sufficient housing options for all cohorts of our society.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I am a TD for the Meath East constituency. As long as I have been there, which is my whole life, a permanent feature has been Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government here and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government in Meath County Council. We have seen nothing but failure in terms of forward planning for critical infrastructure. For as long as I was a county councillor, and since I have been in the Dáil, the issue of retrospectively investing in communities, critical infrastructure, water, wastewater, energy, playgrounds, green space, school places, GP places, bus services and the whole lot has seen an absolute failure to forward plan and deliver. In water infrastructure it is particularly bad. This time last year, there were major issues in Ashbourne and Ratoath.

I welcome that there has been progress with regard to them but it just moves the problem on to somewhere else. We have regular outages now in Duleek. Today, we have water restrictions in Kells because there has been chronic underinvestment in water infrastructure for decades. The common denominator is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and an absolute failure to plan and deliver.

Oireachtas Members met yesterday with members of the executive of Meath County Council who specifically stated that issues with investment in water infrastructure were impacting on the development the economic corridor they would like to see at Dunboyne extending through Dunshaughlin to Navan. This has to change but I have absolutely no confidence it will change until we change Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I spoke to a developer from Waterford in advance of this debate. He is building a number of housing estates in Waterford. I am sure the Minister of State will be familiar with many of the projects. This developer mentioned to me some time ago the issues he has with ESB and Irish Water, in particular with regard to Irish Water. He was of the view that these issues are impacting on his company's ability to deliver housing on time. He talked about not getting definite answers and issues with advance meetings regarding planning applications and even buying land. As Deputy Ó Broin said, this is an experience that local authorities have as well. It is not only private developers who are saying this. We have heard this from the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, in the past. Local authorities have pointed out time and again that issues with Irish Water are impeding the State's ability to deliver housing. That needs to be dealt with.

I will raise two other issues with regard to Irish Water in our constituency. The Minister of State will be familiar with issues in Lismore in County Waterford. I attended a protest at which hundreds of residents gathered in Lismore a number of weeks ago. Things have improved and there is now at least a dialogue and information is being given to residents there. I met the residents with Deputy Conor McGuinness and Councillor Donnchadh Mulcahy. We also met representatives from crèches, community groups and so on. As the Minister of State knows, there is a need for an additional reservoir in Lismore, which needs to be funded. The infrastructure is also archaic.

I also raise with the Minister of State an issue in Bunmahon, which I have been dealing with for five years. We were promised a scoping report into Bunmahon wastewater treatment. Bunmahon is due for an assessment via the south-eastern strategic modelling study. I have been told this will take until 2027. One of our councillors on the ground, Councillor Catherine Burke, has been working on this issue and raising questions with Irish Water. It should not take until 2027 just to do a study when there are very real concerns with regard to the discharge of water in Bunmahon. I wanted to raise those local issues as well.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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This is a very important motion. We cannot build houses unless we have the necessary infrastructure in place. I have raised a number of times the failure to invest in wastewater infrastructure in a number of towns and villages across my constituency, as well as the slow delivery of projects which has stalled the delivery of housing. I raised it with the Tánaiste last week who said that investment would be forthcoming. However, we have heard these commitments before. We need less talk and more action to get the necessary infrastructure in place.

I also raise the impact of the changes to second-hand acquisitions and the lack of funding for Galway County Council for purchases. The changes to this scheme mean many households who had tenant in situ applications will not have these progressed and they face homelessness as a result. I wrote to the Minister, Deputy Browne, about one such family in my constituency over a month ago asking that he intervene and remove these totally unnecessary restrictions. While I received an acknowledgement from his office, I have not received a response to date. This young family should not be ignored. The husband and wife have two young daughters who attend school locally. They no longer qualify because they were in receipt of social housing support for only the past year and not two years, which is one of the restrictions the Government brought in. This family now faces homelessness as result. I appeal again to the Minister of State to intervene and remove these totally unnecessary restrictions. The family in question is not the only family affected. The underfunding of this scheme is going to result in many more families becoming homeless. Galway County Council has now almost run out of its allocation for 2025, so it will not be in a position to purchase homes and save people from homelessness later this year. This scheme was working. It was preventing families from becoming homeless, so please remove the restrictions and fund it properly.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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Arís eile, táimid ag caint faoi thithe a d'fhéadfaí a thógáil, ar cóir dúinn a thógáil, ach atá á gcur siar mar gheall ar theip leanúnach an Rialtais seo infheistíocht cheart a dhéanamh i mbonneagar criticiúil. Níl aon áit go bhfuil sé sin níos soiléire ná i gcóras uisce dheisceart Chill Dara. Idir 2018 agus lár 2024, thaifead Uisce Éireann os cionn 15,500 gearán ó chustaiméirí i gCill Dara amháin. Sin gearán amháin maidir le soláthar nó caighdeán uisce gach ceithre huaire an chloig. Sa bhliain 2023, tharla briseadh sa tseirbhís uisce i 205,000 teaghlach, an líon is airde ó 2018 i leith, in ainneoin dearbhaithe faoi infheistíocht mhéadaithe agus oibrithe cóirithe áitiúla. Constituents come to me regularly about recurring boil water notices, water with a petrol-like taste and, most frequently, falling water pressure. One woman in Newbridge told me just last week that she has lost water pressure every evening from 5 p.m. until midnight since January and still nothing has been done. That means no washing up after dinner and no laundry. Her two teenage daughters cannot shower after their sports training or when they are menstruating. It is just not acceptable.

To add insult to injury, people are paying plumbers out of pocket just to fix airlocks caused by these interruptions. More than €1.1 million has been spent on this by Kildare residents in 2023 alone. Kildare's water system cannot handle any new developments without compromising the basic rights of those already living there. We all know how urgent the need for housing is. That is why we need real investment in our water infrastructure now, not false promises or spin but the kind of sustained, targeted investment that ensures people do not have to go without the most basic service of all - clean running water.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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There is a housing emergency in this State. Whatever way the Government tries to spin it, that is what we have. Whether someone is a house buyer, renter or waiting on the council to provide a house, he or she will find they face a challenging and often very long course. Limerick has seen rents increase by an astonishing 75% since 2020 and house purchase prices have increased by 44% since 2019. Many people have been on council housing waiting lists in excess of seven years. Indeed, the average house price now stands at €325,000. That figure has been increasing in the last three months, so prices continue to spiral.

The Government housing plan is failing. Last year in Limerick, 1,000 dwellings were built, which is 3,300 short of what the Housing Commission believed was needed for the county. There is a litany of reasons delivery is slow and prices continue to spiral. We have a housing plan that is not fit for purpose and we have had successive governments underfunding the critical infrastructure needed for housing delivery. The Irish Home Builders Association has warned repeatedly that drinking water and wastewater capacity are a constraint on housing delivery. We have had Uisce Éireann warning there is a need for a significant increase in capital funding in order to keep pace with the Government's revised housing targets. That has not been done. We have a Government that ignores its own Housing Commission's recommendations. It recommended a housing delivery oversight executive with executive powers underpinned by legislation. This was ignored, and instead we were presented with a proposal for the position of a housing tsar on an outrageous salary of €100,000 more than the average house in Limerick for a job the Minister should be doing himself.

In 2024, Limerick was allocated money to buy houses for tenants in situ, which was one of the good things the Government did when it got rid of the no-fault eviction ban. We told it people would be entering emergency accommodation and become homeless. Of 107 people we were supposed to be buying houses for, 24 will be bought from money from last year and there is no money from this year. As for the rest of the 107 people, I will ask the Minister of State a question I asked at the time the Government got rid of the no-fault eviction ban. Where are those people supposed to go? The Government is making them homeless.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as ucht an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Water and the adequate funding of water infrastructure are issues we have failed to address properly in this country over many years. We all know there are huge issues all over the country, many of which have been outlined this evening with regard to our water infrastructure. Our infrastructure spend is actually 25% lower than the average for comparable European countries. We need a serious multi-year plan to properly address the housing crisis.

We have a situation in this country where a national utility company, Uisce Éireann, has to compete for funding on a multi-annual basis with Departments. In my constituency, a planning application went in for 30 badly needed one- and two-bedroom apartments on the site of the old Olympic Ballroom in Newcastle West. That application was withdrawn because of there being no water infrastructure. There is also no capacity in the water infrastructure in towns like Croom and Hospital in County Limerick, all of which are being held back by that totally inadequate infrastructure.

I refer to a specific issue with a site in Mungret, County Limerick, whereby the LDA is shovel-ready on a development of 250 badly needed homes. The main source of infrastructure funding for this site has been the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF. As a result of a funding shortfall of €5 million, the project has, in effect, been suspended. A request to unlock this money has gone in to the Department from Limerick City and County Council and the LDA in order to fund the necessary road and public realm infrastructure. I implore the Minister and Minister of State to use whatever influence they have in the Department to push on this development of 250 units. If funding is sanctioned, a contractor can be appointed almost immediately. Approximately 1,000 homes were built in Limerick last year. According to the Housing Commission report and work done by Limerick Chamber, we need to get that number to well over 2,500.

I highlight an issue regarding the new Planning and Development Act. Developers in Limerick have contacted me to say they have financing in place on sites in the city, with capacity to deliver 150 units, but the planning will expire on those units 16 to 24 months from now. This is something about which their lenders have a lot of concern. I urge the Department to look at this issue in the context of the enactment of the new Planning and Development Act to see whether there might be capacity, in a small number of circumstances, to deliver a time-limited extension to ensure a development can be built.

The housing delivery oversight executive, when it is delivered, must have legislative power, as recommended by the Housing Commission. I see the value in having such an executive but it must be established in the vein recommended by the commission, with real power that will enable it to unblock the things that need to be unblocked.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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We are very bad in this country, across all political parties, at infrastructure planning. We are horrendous at it. It is shameful because we are letting down the people. When it comes to infrastructure, there is no long-term planning. The national planning framework is a dog's dinner. The national development plan is loaded with aspirations and projects that often do not materialise and it contains, in various aspects, the token political whims of a number of people in government. We are not very good at this.

On 27 April 2016, I predicted in this House that we would have infrastructural issues with water and waste. That was more than nine years ago. We have failed in this regard. The Minister of State stated that investment in this area has gone from €300 million to €1.4 billion. He did not mention that the problem is that the amount of money going in initially over those years was bloody well ridiculous and we have been playing catch-up ever since. It is a failure of this House, a failure of politics and a failure of government. There are towns and cities all over this country that are hamstrung because it takes years for this investment to reach a development status whereby houses can be built. In my town of Nenagh, more than 1,000 houses are planned but we must wait for a plant that was meant to be built for 2027 but will not be done until 2028. This is happening all across the country. I have another prediction, which will not take nine years to come to pass. We will have water shortages in this city, possibly this year, and we will have infrastructural issues to do with waste that will go on for decades. If we are depending on the famous pipeline that is coming from the River Shannon, we will be waiting a long time because that is what it will take.

Are Uisce Éireann's response rates, the way in which it deals with people, its servicing, etc. all up the level they should be? No; not a hope of it. I am as frustrated as everybody else by this. The reality is that Uisce Éireann has not been funded. Anyone who says anything different is not telling the truth. It has not been funded to deal with the infrastructural gaps that exist across the country, and the Government is going to bloody well pay for it. It does not have a prayer of building the houses necessary because of the failure of politics over the past decade or so to deal with this infrastructural issue. That is the reality. Nothing the Government can do now will fast-forward the process and deal with the issues, whether it is the Mickey Mouse housing unit in the Department of housing or the infrastructure unit in the Department of public expenditure. It is totally tokenistic rubbish and an absolute waste of time. It is already over. The time to fix things is gone. We can throw Apple money at the problem but it will not deal with it fast enough. This will be the rock upon which the Government perishes.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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I thank Sinn Féin for this extremely important motion. In the majority of towns and cities across the country, there are very serious difficulties with public infrastructure and this is having a knock-on effect on the development of housing. The provision of housing is by far the greatest issue of our time and of our generation as politicians. I am a 25-year-old still living at home, like an enormous number of people my age. Approximately 70% of us are locked at home, unable to privately rent or to afford a house. That is simply not good enough.

I want to raise a specific issue in my constituency of Cork North-Central. In my home town of Mallow, we need substantial economic, social and housing growth. However, because of the lack of public infrastructure, the building of homes is happening with inadequate resources to deal with the level of cars and pedestrians. This is not an attack on private developers. It is important that they play a role in the delivery of housing. However, if we are going to leave the building of homes to private developers, that work needs to be matched by the Department by way of the provision of good infrastructure. In Mallow, we have a number of developments either taking place or for which planning permission is being granted. In the area where I live, Castle Park, planning permission for a large residential development of 469 houses has been sanctioned, alongside the existing 500 homes. Residents in the area have made it quite clear that they are not against the housing development, but they cannot accept that level of development because of the inadequate public infrastructure. Therefore, an appeal is to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála to stop this development of 469 houses.

That brings me to the main focus of my contribution. We need the Government to build the Mallow relief road. Over the past three years, just over €1 million has been sanctioned for that project, despite Cork County Council requesting far more. In response to the number of parliamentary questions I have asked regarding this project since my election to the Dáil, the answers continue to remain piecemeal and lack any commitment to a timeframe in getting shovels in the ground. We have housing developments taking place in a number of areas, including Castle Park, St. Joseph's Road, Spa Glen and Kennel Hill. All of those projects need the Mallow relief road to be delivered. I agree with those in this House who say that sustainable means of transport must be an option. However, in rural parts of Ireland, we are unlucky in that a car is still a necessity. Although we have fantastic rail lines and we have bus services, the car is still essential.

That is what is most important. I invite the Minister of State to come to Mallow and stand on the main street with me. He will then see the traffic congestion crisis that is not allowing houses to be built.

That brings me to water infrastructure. I had a very constructive meeting with a private developer in Mallow yesterday. He told me that in over 70% of developments, Irish Water is the issue with progress. He has been awaiting a response to a question for over eight months. This shows a complete lack of accountability. There is a large residential development on Station Road in Blarney. I invite the Minister of State to visit the road itself. He will see the narrow road. The entrance to that development will be on that narrow stretch of road. Having met with a number of residents in the area, they also pointed out that they are not against housing. They are against the lack of public infrastructure. They have serious concerns about roads, drainage issues and village community infrastructure.

I welcome housing developments and the building of homes. Every second person who contacts me mentions private rental and social housing. However, if the Government is going to rely on private developers to build homes, it must meet them halfway and put in the necessary infrastructure. I implore the Minister of State to work with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to build the Mallow relief road.

Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. We will be supporting it and opposing the Government's amendment. This is a vital discussion. Unfortunately, it feels as if every week, we are discussing a new blockage to providing housing. The incredible thing is that each week, this new barrier is responded to by the Government and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as if it was a complete surprise and as if they were not aware of these issues - the infrastructure blockages and the lack of investment in infrastructure.

I will bring the Minister of State back to 2017. Fine Gael launched a local infrastructure housing activation fund. What was this for? It was for dealing with critical infrastructural blockages such as roads, bridges and amenity spaces. The Government was offering local authorities funding to address the significant public infrastructure deficits where the lack of enabling and accessing infrastructure has been hindering the early development of housing. This was 2017. Eight years ago, the Government was aware that critical infrastructure blockages existed and provided some funding but this funding was clearly inadequate. This is what is extremely frustrating. We come in here week after week and on the media, it is the same thing - this surprise at these barriers. The Government was going to bring in a housing tsar to break down the doors and tackle these blockages and barriers. It is baffling that the previous Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage was not breaking down doors to deal with the issues he knew about. He was too busy spinning the fibs of 40,000 homes being delivered. I ask for accountability in this House. The former Minister should come back in and explain where the figure of 40,000 homes came from and why he did not address these critical infrastructure blockages of which he was well aware.

It is unfortunate that the current Minister is continuing where the former Minister left off and is not taking an emergency response to the lack of infrastructure. The Minister has been in office for five months but has not yet pulled together an emergency meeting of the utilities to see where the blockages are and what needs to done. Unfortunately, all we have heard is disagreements about whether or not Uisce Éireann got the €1 billion and whether or not it is the additional funding it requires. It is very clear from Uisce Éireann that it does not have the funding currently allocated to build 50,000 homes every year so if the Minister wants to immediately address one of the key barriers, he should allocate the funding. It was disappointing to hear the Tánaiste talk about the requirement for Uisce Éireann to present its guarantee that it will deliver on this funding. Uisce Éireann cannot plan to deliver if it does not have the funding allocated to it so it is a chicken-and-egg situation. It needs the guarantee from the Minister of State, who is shaking his head, that it will have the funding to deliver the infrastructure. I do not know why the Government is dithering on allocating the funding to Uisce Éireann. It needs to be upfront and announce that whatever funding Uisce Éireann needs will be provided. Of course, there must be accountability and value for money but Uisce Éireann needs that funding.

There is significant land in Ballymun and Finglas in my constituency that could be used for affordable and social housing but we hear from Uisce Éireann that it will not have the infrastructure in place in the new town planned in Ballyboggan in Dublin 7 to enable the development of that new town. Dublin City Council is developing a master plan when we know the infrastructure will not be in place. We are in an emergency. Uisce Éireann has said that there is a need for two new large wastewater treatment plants in order for that development to go ahead. If we add on thousands more potential homes in north Dublin, we will come to a standstill in terms of delivery of new homes in Dublin city so we need an emergency response in terms of investment in infrastructure.

There was a very good and solid recommendation from the Housing Commission, which we supported, regarding the setting up of a housing oversight executive, not a housing activation office where deck chairs from the Department are moved around on an apparently sinking ship. The housing oversight executive was supposed to be underpinned by legislation. There was no mention of a CEO or tsar. It talked about a board and having resources. The Minister mentioned legislation coming later. Surely the starting point was to have the legislation ready so it had the powers to deliver - to be able to bring in the utilities and service providers and unblock the blockages. The Government is setting up an office that will have no additional power. How will it have any ability to compel State agencies? This question has yet to be answered.

It is important that there be accountability within Government around the barriers both it and the Department have put up. The Minister of State is probably familiar with Ó Cualann, which is an affordable housing delivery body. For a number of years, it has developed affordable housing. It built it in Ballymun in my constituency. It requested seed funding, which is upfront funding to enable it to start the development process, yet it has not been able to get it. It is as if the Department is actively blocking Ó Cualann. I ask the Minister of State to meet Ó Cualann and ask what blockages it is facing because it tells me that it faces blockages, one of which is the lack of seed funding.

This money - amount involved is not huge - could be used to provide affordable housing.

Another issue, as was mentioned earlier, is the tenant in situ scheme. It is shocking to hear that the Minister for housing is refusing to meet representatives of Dublin City Council to engage on the scheme, which is being gutted. It is another example of the Government being a barrier to delivering housing. We need an emergency response to this crisis and emergency investment in infrastructure.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I welcome and fully support Sinn Féin's motion. The need for urgent action on critical infrastructure is no more keenly felt than by residents of Ballyhooly in north Cork. There are chronic water pressure issues in Ballyhooly that are having a significant impact on the quality of life of those residents. This has been happening for many years. The water pressure there is never reliable for a sustained period and is frequently non-existent. Recently, the village was without water for three days. When this happens, people cannot shower, appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines do not work and toilets do not fill or flush. The local national school is deeply affected, as are local businesses and farms. Families caring for disabled children or elderly relatives suffer greatly at these times. I spoke to a resident of Ballyhooly this morning who told me that Uisce Éireann frequently comes to the village to address leaks. Residents are appreciative of this work, but are utterly frustrated and drained by the constant uncertainty regarding such a basic need. Their water supply ebbs and flows. There is no way of predicting it.

Uisce Éireann has stated that a sustainable solution to this problem may entail replacing 6 km of pipeline, which will be a costly project. Executives from Uisce Éireann have made vague references to considering how to fund such a project between 2025 and 2029. This is lacking the sense of urgency required and is out of touch with the basic needs of a village where many people feel they have been utterly forgotten by the Government. Short-term repairs are of limited use. They are undoubtedly adding up to significant costs without resolving the issue. I urge the Minister of State to come to meet the residents of Ballyhooly and to ensure that funding for a proper, lasting solution to the village's water issues is provided.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on housing infrastructure, which I support.

I thank the Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne, for taking the time to visit Donegal. He had positive engagement with the 100% Redress Party and the homeowners impacted by defective concrete. It is important for the Minister to see at first-hand the crumbling homes across the county, which he did. Having met homeowners, particularly the downgraded homeowners, the Elm Park homeowners who are seeking relocation, and people who were given the wrong engineering option, I hope now the Minister realises the devastation that has been caused and starts to work on a scheme. I urge the Minister to reflect on that visit and come back with a better defective concrete scheme that leaves no one behind.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Like the previous speaker, I support this Sinn Féin motion. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, in its report last October, stated that there are obvious areas where Ireland's infrastructure is much underdeveloped. The key areas to which it referred were housing, health, transport and electricity. It stated that when one compares Ireland's infrastructure with that of other high-income European countries, one discovers that our infrastructure is 25% lower than average for a high-income country. The world competitiveness ranking places Ireland poorly for infrastructure provision, particularly basic infrastructure, including that relating to water and energy.

Electricity supply and grid stability are real concerns. In this area, data centres are by far the most demanding. EirGrid, in its 2024 ten-year forecast, stated that 89% of the growth in the total electricity that will be needed in the next decade is attributable to data centres. They currently consume one fifth of Ireland's electricity. It is projected that they will use one third in the next few years. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities has warned that data centres pose a risk to increased housing delivery due to constraints on the electricity grid.

Last March, the chairman of Irish Water said that the State's water and sewerage systems "are in a desperate state" because of "extraordinary complacency" and "passive indifference". Uisce Éireann has said that meeting the Government's revised housing targets would require a significant increase in capital funding above its current programme to increase water and wastewater capacity in urban and rural areas. The Irish Home Builders Association has repeatedly warned that the electricity grid, drinking water, wastewater capacity and connections are a constraint on housing delivery. All of this feeds into the fact that a housing emergency exists in this State. Every TD in the Dáil, Government or Opposition, knows that. The housing emergency continues to undermine the very fabric of Irish society. To address the housing and homelessness crisis, we need a declaration of a housing emergency in law. Last year's Housing Commission report set out the situation starkly by stating, "Only a radical reset of housing policy will work." It went on to state, "It is critical that this housing deficit is addressed through emergency action." Emergency measures are provided for in Article 43.2.2° of our Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. There is precedent in the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation between 2011 and 2016. Any housing plan, including a housing activation office, can only be successful if it is governed by the declaration in law of a housing emergency and given emergency powers underpinned by legislation.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion and providing us with an opportunity to speak on it. Sinn Féin is asking for three basic things. The first is clarification from the Government on its plan for funding the infrastructure that is necessary, as has been identified by so many organisations on the ground. The second is the implementation of the Housing Commission report, at least in respect of the housing delivery oversight executive, underpinned by legislation. The third is the adequate resourcing of the planning system. I will start with that last issue.

I understood, from listening to the many debates on the planning legislation that the Government put through the House, that at any given time, there are approximately 500 vacancies in the planning system throughout the country. I have asked repeatedly to be corrected if I am incorrect, but that is the figure that has been used repeatedly by different bodies on the ground. Imagine trying to run an effective planning system with 500 vacancies nationally. The Minister of State might address that point.

On infrastructure, I will speak parochially to illustrate a point. Galway is one of five cities destined to grow. The Minister of State is familiar with it. However, the city cannot grow. It has been identified as a growth city in the national planning framework and has the capacity to provide regional development. I will home in on those two issues. Galway city cannot grow, as was pointed out by my Sinn Féin colleague from Galway. There is no plan in existence for a wastewater treatment plant on the east side of the city. The wastewater treatment that is there is defective. I previously quoted from an engineer's report that refers to two syphons under the Corrib Estuary, which is in the middle of the town, one of which is in imminent danger of collapse. That is another issue I have repeated ad nauseam.

I also repeat that we cannot have balanced regional development within the county because we have no wastewater treatment plant in Carraroe. There are no plans for any type of small or medium estate in the Gaeltacht area because there is no wastewater treatment plant. That was something Uisce Éireann inherited but I do not know why it has not prioritised it. To talk about building houses in a planned and sustained way without the basic infrastructure is a mockery.

It is mockery to turn it into a boxing match involving Uisce Éireann when it was designated, without funding and without guidance from Dublin, that this infrastructure was critical to implementing our national planning framework and national plan and to give meaning to our words. There are no plans for the east side of Galway, so that part of the city cannot be developed. In Connemara, there is absolutely nothing in the context of a wastewater treatment plant for Carraroe, with séarachas amh ag dul díreach isteach san uisce. Raw sewage is going in. Since I was elected in 1999 - this is my 25th year as an elected representative, unfortunately - that has been the position. I watch with absolute dismay.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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It has taken a long time to get the Government to accept that there is a housing crisis. The Minister of State's predecessors would not accept it, but I think it is now accepted. We have huge constraints when it comes to water, wastewater and electricity infrastructure. In County Laois, the county I am most familiar with, 13 towns and villages require improved capacity. I will name them. In Portarlington, people have particularly complained to me of the lack of water pressure in Slí na Móna and the Ballymorris Road. Mountrath town, Stradbally, Rathdowney, Ballylynan, Durrow, Killenard, Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill, Castletown, Ballybrittas, Newtown and Graiguecullen all require improved capacity.

In wastewater, the situation is even more tricky. There are four towns and villages on amber alert and four on red. The four on red alert are Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill, Swan and Timahoe. Those on amber alert include Mountmellick, a substantial town that needs increased capacity, Clonaslee and Arless. This needs to be addressed because we cannot have homes without infrastructure. This is hampering housebuilding in these towns and villages. The Government needs to set out a clear investment plan for County Laois to address this.

I have raised with the Minister of State previously the fact that low-interest loans need to be made available to small builders. We need to activate small builders and developers to build small housing schemes in these towns and villages that would meet much of the demand that is there. Not everybody wants to live in a city. Many of these people work locally and it would save them having to commute. Small schemes could be developed in many of the towns and villages I mentioned.

The Government says that not enough land is zoned for housing. The Minister of State and I know it is not in the right place in some areas, but there is substantial land zoned. The Department has informed me there is 46,300 ha available. That is over 100,000 acres. If you work it out, hundreds of thousands of new houses could be built on this land across the State. In County Laois, 1,145 ha is zoned for mixed use. Assuming 700 ha of that could be used for housing at 20 units per hectare, that would provide 14,000 houses in County Laois alone. There are some places where it is constrained and where land will need to be zoned. Portlaoise is one of those places.

In relation to electricity, the ESB has flagged that demands of data centres will continue to curtail the amount of energy in reserve for housing developments. Over one fifth of the supply is taken up by data centres. I am not completely against them, but we have to have a bit of balance. We cannot expand the number of houses to be delivered in many localities because of our shaky grid and capacity, with overdependence on a few sources of generation. The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland has flagged this, as have the ESB, Uisce Éireann and local councillors.

When he was Minister, I argued with Phil Hogan on the floor of the Dáil about the establishment of Irish Water. I ask the Minister of State to look at the money that went into Irish Water in the past 12 years and think about the fact that if it had been given to local authorities, we would have very good water infrastructure rather than what we have at the moment. We need an investment plan for County Laois, and we need to move on with housebuilding.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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The Minister of State and I sat on the housing committee together. It is like déjà vu. I am delighted to be the chairman of the budget and oversight committee, which will have a big role to play in ensuring accountability in respect of the money that is being spent.

I sent a letter to Uisce Éireann about Pallaskenry, County Limerick. Three weeks on, I am waiting for a letter back to say there is capacity in Pallaskenry. I know there is capacity because nothing has been built there since the new plant went in, but I was told that it is going to take another two weeks to check whether there is capacity in the tank and system that are there. We already know it is there. That is two weeks to use a computer in order to check for capacity. That is where we are lacking accountability. I have been self-employed all my life. Imagine if I told somebody they would have to wait two weeks to check capacity of something that could be done at the click of a finger. We need accountability in respect of Uisce Éireann and the funding put into it and the lack of funding put into local authorities when they were in charge of water under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They could have delivered a lot of the stuff we need today in terms of infrastructure.

Askeaton has been 49 years without a sewerage system. Raw sewage is flowing into the Shannon, water from which the Government wants to pipe up here to Dublin to service the city's water needs. That is what we are looking at. Raw sewage is going into the Shannon and the Government wants to treat the water from the river and use it to service Dublin's needs. Some 73% of what Uisce Éireann is now treating is water; the rest is sewage because they are both mixed. I have been at this for six or seven years, namely trying to bring about common sense and value for money when it comes to infrastructure. People in high-paid jobs are making decisions but we are getting nothing in return. Let us build the infrastructure we need and get accountability for the money invested in it.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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If we got a euro for every time we spoke about housing since I came to Dáil Éireann, we would have a hell of a lot of houses built. We have a massive problem. We know that. I cannot understand why Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Labour have thrown out figures for delivery of housing which they know they can never deliver. Go down to my patch in West Cork and you cannot build a house there. Not one house in Dunmanway. Imagine. It is an astonishing situation. I would love the Minister of State to come down and see the problem. Raw sewage is pouring into the local watercourses. The EPA does not give a damn, nor does Uisce Éireann or anyone else. They are all telling us they might do something in 2030, 2035 or 2040 and kicking the can down the road. Shannon Vale, Ballydehob, Rosscarbery and Goleen are 25 or 30 years with raw sewage pouring out all over the place. We have wastewater treatment plants bursting at the seams while the Government stands idly by and does not accept that there is a crisis.

Independent Ireland did not put false figures before the people. Nor did we say that we would deliver a certain number of houses. What we said was that we wanted to deal with the housing emergency. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not want to mention the emergency because it is an embarrassment, but it is an emergency. Instead, they want to give some tsar €430,000 to talk us further into the hole we are in. They promised the people log cabins a number of months ago but they have not moved one millimetre on that. Maybe I am wrong. I hope the Minister of State has a report on that today. I would be delighted and would welcome that. Young people would live anywhere; in log cabins, mobile homes or caravans. That is the crisis we are in. There are 15,000 people without homes, there are children without homes and there are serial objectors. If there is a serial objector to a wastewater treatment plant and there is a fish kill, that individual has to be held personally responsible. Government Members have to stand up to these people. If they do not, they are kicking the can down the road the same as they are doing with rural planning. Young people are trying to pay for houses but cannot do so. That has to change.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I have to agree with my colleagues. The story Michael Collins tells about west Cork is exactly the same as the story we see in Cork North-Central. We cannot build a single home in Carrignavar because there is no water treatment plant. The infrastructure in Glanmire - which is in my constituency, which is the location of the parish I was born in and which is where I got my biggest vote in the last local election - is over-facilitated with housing estate after housing estate being built and no infrastructure being delivered.

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing this up. We are going round continuously on this treadmill and talking about the lack that exists. Ministers are identifying it. We are all talking about it and have all identified where the problems and hold-ups lie. They relate to planning permission and Irish Water. Why the hold-up with the Mallow relief road and the northern distributor road?

8 o’clock

Where is the infrastructure? We have all identified it: north, south, east and west. I find it ironic that a number of Members come into this House and you would swear to God they never held a portfolio when they go around, pretending they are Mighty Mouse in Leinster House and Mickey Mouse down in their own constituency. It is about time we started doing something about it and working together. Let us get off the pot. We are at a stage where we have identified the problems with Irish Water and with planning permission but we are not achieving or doing anything. We are talking and talking and going around in circles. It is like the Mad Hatter's tea party inside here, with nothing being done.

We just need to get to work. We need to listen to the developers, get the people in the right places, move on Irish Water, get the infrastructure built and just do it. I am sick to death of coming to debates here, week after week, with Members saying this, that and the other. The Minister's own TDs are saying it to him. He knows it himself. We have to just get it done. We have to move and stop talking about it.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. I only have three and a half minutes and there are so many issues. My first point is that there are major delays with An Bord Pleanála. I know people in my constituency who have been years in the planning system. It took them months to get the planning and then more than a year waiting for a decision on an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. I appreciate the Minister has made some progress on the timeframes but many people are still waiting more than a year for decisions on appeals.

This is an emergency. People are attending my clinics every single week who are homeless and living with their parents into their 30s and 40s. They are seeking a very basic thing. It is deeply frustrating when we see such delays with planning. My question to the Minister is what is the level of accountability in this regard. If a State agency is not meeting its statutory obligations, there should be a penalty. If there is a reason for that, it needs to be adequately resourced. This is an emergency situation but it is not being treated like that at the moment.

During the week, I was struck by the comments made by the CEO of Uisce Éireann, Niall Gleeson, that objectors are costing the State billions of euro. He used a new term. It used to be NIMBYism but it is now BANANA, build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything. This is a major difficulty. People are going through the wringer when it comes to An Bord Pleanála, they finally get approval and then before they know it, there are environmental objections in judicial reviews. This is holding up progress across the country. It needs to be looked at and reviewed. We need to end the practice of lengthy delays in the planning system.

An earlier speaker referred earlier to the fact there are 100,000 acres of zoned land. The reality is that much of the zoned land in the country is zoned but there is no appetite among those people and farmers to develop that. We need to be much more proactive and we need a more flexible system. We need the local authorities and local councillors involved in the decisions on zoning land. There is no point looking on Google Maps and having planners in an office deciding what to zone if there is no appetite on the ground for this. It needs to be looked at. The previous two Governments dezoned land and they also zoned land that farmers have no interest in building on. There is never going to be movement unless we address that issue.

There is one important point that I have raised before with the Minister. There have been promises regarding wastewater treatment plants in County Mayo, for example, in Newport, and people have no idea what is happening. I met with Uisce Éireann officials recently. The issue is now with the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority. It needs to be looked at. I wish I had more speaking time but I would appreciate it if the Minister examines the issue.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Institute for Management Development’s world competitiveness yearbook 2024 ranks Ireland 38th out of 67 countries in basic infrastructure. To take water as an example, Dublin City Council wants to build 6,000 homes in Ballyboggan but this is under threat due to a lack of water and sewerage infrastructure. The greater Dublin drainage project needs to be progressed. Nationally, it is estimated that we need up to €120 billion for water development. That is a huge amount and we need to focus on key projects as a result, through the Apple money and, of course, through strategic borrowing if necessary.

We also need to resource our planning system, as others have mentioned. Logjams are seriously slowing the process down, and that is before community facilities, childcare, schools, public transport, playing pitches and the other amenities necessary to build communities alongside housing are even considered.

There are also have deficits in the energy grid. Instead of being able to produce multiples of our electricity needs here and export them, and also gain revenue from data centres, we are competing with them for scarce resources. Even the plans to allow people to generate their own solar with battery backup are affected in a stupid situation like Storm Éowyn because batteries are shut off during power outages, making the stored energy useless. I acknowledge that is a safety measure for ESB Networks workers but surely there is a workaround, rather than having to be sneaky about it.

In this context, it is disappointing to hear that the much-touted housing activation office will have no legislative powers. How do we identify and seek to address barriers to funding and infrastructure for multiple Departments without such powers? That is a rhetorical question, unfortunately.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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“Housing and Critical Infrastructure” is a very appropriate heading for the motion as we cannot have housing without critical infrastructure. In my own county of Kerry, we are in the Dark Ages when it comes to critical infrastructure. The majority of villages in County Kerry do not have any wastewater treatment facilities. In the first week of December 2023, €6 million was announced by the Department for the Beaufort village sewerage scheme but it has not progressed since. I was recently informed that it will take another seven years before Beaufort has a sewerage scheme.

There are a total of 32 villages in Kerry without a wastewater treatment scheme. In a report to members of Kerry County Council back in 2019, we were informed that immediate priorities included Beaufort, Scartaglin, Caherdaniel and Currow. Not one of them has progressed other than the announcement for Beaufort. The cost of the Scartaglin scheme in 2019 was €3.5 million. Major investment is also urgently required from Uisce Éireann at 17 small plants in Kerry that effectively require total replacement to meet minimum regulatory standards. These plants have been completely inadequate, overloaded, outdated and beyond upgrade for far too long.

Uisce Éireann needs to pull up its socks. The time for action is now. We have a national housing crisis and this also applies to my county. The villages I refer to also include Gneevgullia, Reask, Ballydavid and Ballyferriter in the west Kerry Gaeltacht, and my own village of Glenbeigh has been at capacity for well over 20 years. The south Kerry greenway is coming onstream, with a section due to open later this year. It is anticipated that it will surpass the numbers that were attracted in the first 12 months to both the Waterford and Mayo greenways, which had 250,000 visitors each. I have received a number of preplanning inquiries with regard to hotels and so on but they are at a standstill, for obvious reasons. We urgently require accommodation. Everything is completely stalled by the inaction of Uisce Éireann, which is preventing the people I represent in County Kerry from building a family home or developing a business. The treatment plant at Portmagee, where the boats leave for Sceilg Mhichíl, is also at capacity.

The population of many of the villages I mentioned rockets during the summer season. Other villages I must mention are Cromane, Boolteens and Castlemaine. They have been campaigning for sewerage schemes for quite a number of years. Every kind of a lame duck excuse has been given over the years by Irish Water and Uisce Éireann. There are solutions. I raised with the Taoiseach a couple of months ago the matter of constructed wetlands. It is a faster and much cheaper form of treatment. Put the skids under Uisce Éireann. The time for talking is over. Provide the badly needed affordable and social housing our people crave. I also ask the Minister to provide a low-cost sites scheme. There should be a low-cost sites scheme in every town and village in County Kerry and throughout the country. Without the infrastructure we cannot have them.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I am glad to have an opportunity to speak about the provision of housing and affordable houses. I do not know how there is so much talk about affordable houses because no house is affordable now with the cost of materials, the cost of labour and the shortage of labour. I must speak about the number of vacant houses around the county of Kerry in towns and villages and between villages. Take the road from Kenmare through Kilgarvan and down to Killarney. Within ten miles of Killarney town in Glenflesk there are 55 vacant houses on the side of the national primary and regional roads. There are buses passing every day that people could walk onto. They would not have to walk up or down anywhere or drive anywhere; they could step onto the bus on the side of the road where the houses are vacant. I ask the Government to do something about this. I mentioned to the Minister previously that we need to do something about the vacant houses around the place.

A large number of people would build a house for themselves if they could get planning permission. In areas around Kilorglin, Killarney, Kenmare and Dingle the urban-generated pressure clause announced a few years ago and put in place by the planning regulator, and not by the hard-working councillors, affects not people coming out from towns but people building beside where their parents are, and where they have an acre or a couple of acres of land. They are not farmers' sons or daughters. Farmers' sons and daughters are catered for and allowed for, and we are glad of that, but many people cannot get planning permission locally because of this strict urban-generated pressure clause.

I heard the Taoiseach today and I could not believe I heard him say that local authority voids, including Kerry County Council voids, should be turned around in a week or two. That is not the case in Kerry. There was a very sought-after house on Marian Terrace in Killarney which was vacant and void for five years or more. There are several more such houses in places such as Gneevegullia. There are five houses there which have been vacant for more than three years. This is not acceptable.

Deputy Cahill spoke about wastewater treatment plants. I am aware of them. There are 38 settlements in Kerry whose treatment plants are not up to standard or they do not have one. Scartaglin is one of those villages that does not have a treatment plant. Back 15 years ago, when Tom Fleming and I were on Kerry County Council, we had got it to third on the list. There is no account of it on any list now. Curragh has no treatment plant. In places such as Moyvane people cannot build another house because it is over capacity. The treatment plant in Brosna needs upgrading. There are various places and settlements, including the likes of Castleisland. In 1986 people there sought to extend the sewer. In my father's garage I found old documents that had been thrown out which showed people were looking for an extension and had been promised it in 1986. We are speaking about sewerage. These people are suffering because they have to clean out their septic tanks at least once a month. I could stay talking for an hour about the situation regarding housing but I must allow my colleague in.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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We all agree that Ireland urgently needs better infrastructure to meet its housing needs. The Minister has sat here listening to all of the Deputies say this with regard to water planning and grid capacity. The solution does not lie in trading blame. It lies in us all rolling up our sleeves and fixing what is broken, and what is easily fixable right in front of us. There are small legislative changes that would have the biggest ripple effects in finally solving the housing crisis that my generation and every generation of buyers is facing.

The motion from Sinn Féin identifies real constraints but it does not really offer real reform. As an Independent Deputy supporting the programme for Government I will vote in favour of the Government's amendment, not because everything is perfect but because I am committed to the programme for Government, which lays foundations for real structural change. One of these structural changes, which was a key priority for me in negotiations, was the progression of private wires legislation. If we are serious about accelerating housing delivery and building the infrastructure of the future, then we need to remove the obstacles that are right in front of us.

One of the most urgent and fixable issues with regard to our electricity, as the Minister has heard from every Member of the House, is the absence of private wires legislation. I will explain what this means in real terms. Take a typical new development of 300 units with six separate quarters of apartments. Under current rules, the ESB must install separate electricity connections to each individual apartment plus additional connections for lifts, lighting and building management. This means upwards of 310 separate grid connections. It is slow and expensive. Worst of all, if ESB or EirGrid states there is no capacity for them, which they often do, the entire project can be delayed for years or more. Imagine if private wires legislation was made legal. Instead of 310 separate grid connections the developer would install a single large connection for the building and sub-meters for each apartment internally. The development could also incorporate rooftop solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, battery storage and even back-up generators.

I studied engineering in college for five years. I asked my professor what would be the one change he would make to Ireland's system to make the biggest difference, not only for our housing crisis but for our energy target goals, and he said to legalise private wires. In effect, we would create a local microgrid. It can be done entirely separately from the national grid if needed. This would mean no delay waiting for grid capacity, lower infrastructure costs and cleaner, cheaper energy from day one. This is not science fiction. It is standard practice in countries such as Denmark and Germany, where apartment complexes, business parks and energy co-ops can legally share electricity through private wires.

Private wires legislation would unlock stalled housing developments, encourage developers to invest in on-site renewables, and create energy resilient communities less exposed to the volatile market prices. Right now Irish law does not allow electricity to be transferred through private wires, unless there is a block on it. This would not take years but months to bring through. I have already brought a Bill to the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers. We do not need to rewrite our climate targets or invent new funding streams; we just need to allow developers to build smarter and cleaner electricity. Let them generate, store and share electricity on site. The programme for Government, which I signed up to, commits to this. This is a perfect shovel-ready policy that is a win for the Minister, the Government and, more importantly, for the people of Ireland.

I am delighted with the engagement I have had so far with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. In response to a parliamentary question I tabled on 8 May, he said it is an important action included in the programme for Government and that it is a priority for him. I ask again that we legalise private wires and turn the grid from a barrier to a back-up, and give housing developers and communities the power, literally, to move ahead.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I echo the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and reassert the Government's commitment to tackling challenges in the housing sector and with regard to critical infrastructure. We know these challenges are having a very real impact on people's lives. We understand the urgency and the need to ensure sufficient homes are delivered to ensure people have safe, secure and affordable homes and that these homes are served by the physical and social infrastructure needed to create sustainable communities.

We are working tirelessly to address these challenges and implement policies that are making a positive difference. While there is still much to do, the Sinn Féin motion and Opposition inputs this evening do not fairly represent the efforts and progress made to date and the Government commitment to addressing these challenges further.

The motion claims the Government is not doing enough, but it is clear we have securely laid a foundation and built a housing pipeline that will allow us to continue to ramp up delivery over the coming years. The measures introduced under Housing for All have helped establish a solid platform to scale up housing delivery further in the short term and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us meet an unmet and emerging demand.

The Government has progressed a series of reforms to support a streamlined and well-resourced planning system. This includes a consolidation and a streamlining of planning legislation under the Planning and Development Act 2024. This Act represents the most comprehensive review of planning since 2000 and will reform and streamline the planning process, reducing delays in housing and strategic infrastructure projects. Furthermore, the implementation of the ministerial action plan on planning resources will strengthen the planning system and support the timely delivery of critical infrastructure and housing. The revised national planning framework also provides the basis for the review and updating of local authority development plans to reflect critical matters such as updated housing figures and planning for critical enabling infrastructure.

The Government has established a new infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform that will lead a process of infrastructure reform. In the first instance, the new division will oversee an evidence-based assessment of barriers impeding timely delivery of infrastructure development, and this will form an action plan of high impact reform measures. Implementation of the action plan will be overseen by an accelerating infrastructure task force.

The Government has also established a new housing activation office in my Department. The office will identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of vital public infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development through the alignment of funding and co-ordination of infrastructure providers. The office will seek to co-ordinate investment by infrastructure providers under their capital expenditure plans and delivery programmes, ensuring appropriate prioritisation for housing. It is also intended the office will manage a multi-annual housing infrastructure budget under the new towns and cities infrastructure fund to be determined through the national development plan review. It will engage and align stakeholders, including local authorities, utility and infrastructure providers, industry and others, to ensure the infrastructure blockages are addressed in a co-ordinated way to enable housing development.

Furthermore, I am establishing, and will directly chair, the housing activation delivery group comprising senior representatives from key Departments, infrastructure agencies, regulators, housing delivery agencies and other public expertise. It will support the office in developing a co-ordinated programme of public infrastructure. As Minister, I must also chair the housing activation industry group to provide for regular structured engagement between the office and industry-representative bodies.

The office has been established on a non-statutory basis in the first instance. On review, it was clear the provision of powers would require an extensive and complex legislative intervention as the office cuts across areas assigned to multiple Departments and agencies under existing legislation. This would have significantly delayed the establishment of this critical office. The office will work through collaboration, dedicated funding and with the support of the Government. The matter of powers can be reviewed over time to ensure any powers given to it, as appropriate, will be effective. This is no different from the Sinn Féin proposal, which proposed establishing the office on a non-statutory basis to begin with.

The motion calls for increased capacity of critical infrastructure required for the delivery of housing. The Government is committed to delivering on the key objectives for infrastructure to support the delivery of more than 300,000 houses by 2030 and to boost the country's competitiveness. There have been record levels of investment under the national development plan in recent years and the programme for Government has set a clear ambition to build on this strong base. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure from €300 million in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024. For 2025, the Exchequer will provide just over €2.2 billion in funding to Uisce Éireann and the programme for Government also commits to investing additional capital in Uisce Éireann under the revised national development plan to support our new housing targets.

In response to an increased demand for energy, the system operators, ESB Networks and EirGrid, have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030. The Government looks forward to the conclusion of the sixth price review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities which will provide a clear framework for investment in the electricity grid, and the Government will support the system operators in building capacity and more reliable and decarbonised energy systems. To meet the challenges and the opportunities arising from higher anticipated levels of population and economic growth, the Government is investing record levels of capital funding in critical infrastructure, including in the areas of water and energy, and will continue to do so under the national development plan for the period 2025 to 2036 to be finalised by July of this year.

We continue to invest at unprecedented levels to ensure we build a sustainable housing system where, ultimately, supply meets demand. By securing this level of investment, Government is providing much needed certainty and confidence to citizens and the wider housing market. Recognising the considerable successes of Housing for All and having regard to the work already under way to develop the new national housing plan, we have delivered growing levels of new homes and will continue to do so.

In the amendment, the Government makes clear its commitment to scale-up capacity to deliver 300,000 homes by 2030 and to facilitate this through appropriate Government support to increase critical infrastructure capacity, including the electricity and water infrastructure. We will continue to do everything in our power to increase the capacity of critical infrastructure needed to support housing delivery and, in turn, increase housing supply for now and for the generations to come.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I will begin by highlighting the issue of infrastructure in my county of Wexford. One of the main vital issues our country faces at present, after the provision of affordable and social housing, is energy sustainability. Rosslare Europort is the number one port for roll on, roll off PAX services in Europe. However, the delay in developing the port into Ireland's offshore renewable energy hub is extremely worrying considering there is a supposed deadline for the project to be finalised by 2027.

It is also worrying that the N11 bottleneck, which transfers into the N25 at Oilgate, is hampering the development of the region and the completion of the main artery of the European route E01 from Belfast to Rosslare, not to mention the underdevelopment of the rail lines, particularly the regularity and upgrading of intercity trains.

Housing targets have been missed year in, year out. Even more staggering, there are more than 166,000 voids in the country, and this when homeless figures are at a record level, with the latest figures showing 15,418 people homeless, of whom 4,675 are children. This is a scandal.

The recent criteria attached to the current tenant in situ scheme must be re-evaluated. This is a successful scheme that can and has prevented people from becoming homeless. I appeal to the Minister to re-examine the unfair changes introduced to the tenant in situ scheme which will result in more people losing their homes. A contributing factor is rents. In my county alone, the average listed rent is now €1,423.

Uisce Éireann, in its strategic growth plan, must be cognisant of rural towns and villages where people prefer to live. The Government must insist it develops service site schemes into our small villages and communities and provide the necessary funding. In County Wexford, however, Uisce Éireann is concentrating on the towns of Gorey and Wexford, leaving the rural community, small towns and villages to dwindle and die.

I ask that the House supports the motion.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Today, we put forward a detailed motion on housing and critical infrastructure. Examples were given and statements from bodies involved in the delivery of homes, such as Uisce Éireann, the Irish Home Builders' Association and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, were given, but the Government's amendment to this motion is a rinse and repeat of its response to all motions in this new Dáil term. It ignores what has been said, it ignores the examples given, it ignores expert opinion, and it gives lots of flowery words, all the while failing to address the key issue of failure by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments to invest in critical infrastructure, in particular in water, leading to delays in the delivery of housing.

In 2017, a burst water main in Drogheda, the largest town in the country, caused significant water outages for eight days throughout south Louth and east Meath. Imagine a town with a population in excess of 55,000 people having no water and those people having to queue to fill water bottles for homes and businesses for this length of time. I spent nearly nine years on Louth County Council before being elected to this House, and throughout that time there was a constant air of dread hanging over us regarding issues with water infrastructure and water outages, amplified, obviously, by this huge water outage the year before. In fact, as far back as 2018, on a site visit with Irish Water to Staleen water treatment plant in Donore, just outside Drogheda, to hear about a new pipeline that was under way, my colleagues and I were alarmed to be informed the new pipeline, when completed, would not export any more than the 30,000 cu. m of water per day the old one had been delivering.

This was at a time when 5,000 houses were planned for construction in the northern environs area of Drogheda alone, bringing a surge of 20,000 in population. There was not the foresight to increase capacity even when major works were under way. The construction of these houses is under way at present and I have major reservations as to the reliability of this infrastructure to meet demand. Despite having banged this drum for years and challenging Irish Water-Uisce Éireann to provide clarity, no assurances have been forthcoming. This is symptomatic of the decades of underinvestment by the Minister's Government in the replacement of outdated infrastructure and in future-proofing to ensure capacity needs are met across key areas of expansion with regard not only to water, but also to electricity and planning. This lacklustre approach from the Government is stifling the growth of our towns, cities and villages and holding them back from meeting their full potential. The time to act is now. Housing lists will continue to grow, house prices will continue to rise and the Irish people will suffer because of the Government's continued intransigence.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Power and water are the two biggest infrastructural issues in my area and in rural parts of constituencies. The impact of the recent storms on our power infrastructure has been absolutely devastating. It has exposed the serious vulnerability that is there. However, I will mainly focus on the water issue and Uisce Éireann.

In rural south Donegal, there are very serious problems with the water. There is lime in the water and problems with connectivity. The pipes are ancient. Building cannot be carried out in large parts of rural areas because the proper infrastructure is not in place. Moving to Sligo, there are parts of Sligo town where there is capacity in the sewerage and water systems but the pipework is not there for areas mapped out for development in the county development plan. The situation is similar in many other towns across Sligo. In Leitrim, it is a similar situation. There are many towns in Leitrim, such as Mohill, Carrigallen and Drumshanbo, where a person who wanted to build 100 houses, which is a small number of houses, would not get planning permission because the sewerage system would not be adequate. We need substantial upgrades to those sewerage systems to ensure that could be done. Many of those towns received upgrades in the early 2000s but they were very small and inadequate and the future was not planned for. That is one of the problems we have. When a job is being done, it is done to meet the demands of today with only a very short-sighted look to the future. We need to build for a larger future, particularly in those areas where we can get this capacity built up.

In many of our rural areas, particularly in County Leitrim, there are serious problems with planning permission. In many parishes, there is no town so there is nowhere else for people to go if they cannot build a one-off house in that rural area but they cannot get planning permission because of the restrictions in place as a result of EPA guidelines. All of these things need to be examined. Ultimately, we need to put money into Irish Water to develop the kind of infrastructure we need to ensure rural communities can continue to develop and grow. Many of them are now being depopulated because you simply cannot build houses in them.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister outlined earlier some of the things this Government is doing but he did not outline the Government's plan to fund critical infrastructure. There is no plan to fund it or to deliver the minimum of 50,000 homes a year we need. There is no commitment to implement the radical strategic reset of housing policy the Government needs to deliver. That was the recommendation of the Housing Commission.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have once again failed to act. The question is "Why?". The Minister's Government blames the planners for being too slow, the ESB for not making connections quickly enough and Irish Water for everything. Do not get me wrong; there are serious problems with Irish Water. However, the Government parties created it. We should have left responsibility with the local authorities and the local water workers. For Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers and Ministers to come in here and point the finger at Irish Water is a disgrace. They are the problem. They set it up. They are not funding Irish Water. If we want critical infrastructure, water and wastewater services need to be funded. There is a village in Cork called Carrignavar. A dozen houses were built there over ten years. They are brand-new and ready to go but there is nowhere for the wastewater to go and Cork County Council cannot buy them to house families.

Look at what the Government has done with the tenant in situ scheme. It has driven thousands of people across the State to the brink of homelessness. This is not just in Cork, but also in Limerick and Dublin. That is the Government's housing policy. Where is the funding for the local authorities to recruit the almost 500 staff they need in the planning sections? Where is the plan to sort that out? Where is the funding and the money for An Bord Pleanála to deliver decisions on time and to speed up the process? Once again, the Government has failed.

To give the Minister an idea of the situation, I am dealing with a mother who recently contacted me. She is sharing a bed with her adult child. They are seriously overcrowded in the box bedroom they are in. Her child is attending university full-time. There is no space to study or to relax in the house. They have lived this way for 16 years. The Minister has been in government for most of that time. Another lady wrote to me. Does the Minister know what she said? She said she is looking for a miracle because she is looking for a house. That is what the Government has done. People are praying to God because they know Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cannot deliver.

Why can they not deliver? For a while I thought it was just sheer incompetence but, the more I think about it, the more I believe they do not want to fix the crisis. I firmly believe that. I firmly believe they want to keep house prices and rents up. The vulture funds, the banks and the speculators are all doing well but does the Minister know who is not doing well? It is ordinary people who do not have houses. The only conclusion I can draw is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not want to fix the housing emergency. It is part of their plan and their strategy. It is either that or they are completely incompetent.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 14 May 2025.