Results 241-260 of 7,615 for speaker:James Browne

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy again for raising this question. It is a matter he has worked very hard on and has campaigned on to ensure we can have those affordable homes, which are an essential part of our housing delivery and to ensure we have private homes people can afford to buy, affordable homes people can access, and social homes across the spectrum so everybody has access to a home they can...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: The Deputy is rightly passionate about keeping our young people in this country and providing affordable homes as a key solution to keeping young people here. That is what we want to deliver, and we want to accelerate the number of affordable homes that are being delivered. It is certainly something I regard as extremely important. I am working with each local authority to ensure that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Homeless Accommodation (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I again thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of homelessness and especially child homelessness. I will continue to engage with him. I will meet the two Galway local authorities in the coming weeks. I will head to Galway to meet both the city and county councils. Homelessness is a national issue but it has regional variations in terms of both causation and how we address the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy. The programme for Government commits to the introduction of a new voids programme and work is under way in my Department to develop and roll out that programme. As Minister, my focus is on building on the strong progress made over recent years in tackling local authority vacancy levels, which was supported and enabled by significant Exchequer funding for my Department...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy again for raising the question. I assure him the Government commitment is there to ensure we have a planned maintenance programme for our local authority stock. The largest-ever voids programme was funded by the previous Government in 2020 and the Department provided uncapped funding for those dwellings vacant for more than 12 months in 2020. Subsequently it was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 May 2025)

James Browne: Again, getting these voids back into play as quickly as possible is essential. Record funding is provided for the local authorities. There is inconsistency across them; there is no question about that. Some local authorities take the view of ongoing maintenance that when the property is vacated it is got back into a state where it can be re-let as quickly as possible. Other local...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of expectations for the delivery of affordable housing in 2025. I also thank him for his ongoing engagement on this issue, which is one he campaigned very strongly on. The Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. In 2024, more than 7,000...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of affordable housing. I also thank him for his regular engagement with me on the issue of how we can develop further affordable housing. In terms of the pipeline of delivery in Cork city, since the launch of Housing for All until the end of quarter 4 in 2024, 747 affordable housing solutions have been delivered via a range of delivery...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank Deputy McGrath for his question and I fully agree with him that in addressing our housing needs in this country, we need to deliver private houses for those who can afford them and affordable houses for those who need help to bridge the gap to own their own homes. We also need to provide social houses. We must ensure that options are there for each person in this country so that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Homeless Accommodation (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank Deputy Connolly for raising the important issue of the funding provided to housing authorities for the provision of emergency accommodation in 2024 and 2025. Supporting individuals and families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness is a priority for Government and me. Critical to this is increasing the supply of housing. The Government is committed to increasing supply with a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Homeless Accommodation (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this very important issue. He has raised this matter with me on numerous occasions and he campaigned on it. The issue of child homelessness in particular is very dear to the Deputy's heart and it is also extremely important to me that we address this issue. The prevention of people going into homelessness is absolutely critical and that is what we are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: The Deputy is comparing outturn from previous years to the funding we provided in May this year. The year is not over.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: Stop comparing the result at the end of one match to the score halfway through another.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I am not blaming the councils.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank Deputy McGrath for raising the important issue around expectations for the delivery of affordable housing this year. I know it is a matter that is important to the Deputy. The Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. In 2024, more than 7,000 affordable housing options were delivered...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I again thank the Deputy for his question. Housing is the number one priority for this Government, and that runs across all the different Departments. We have our Cabinet subcommittees where we work with the various Departments. In response to the increased demand as a result of a significant increase in population and economic demand being put on our grid, we have a plan in place, that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank Deputy Ó Broin for raising this important question about the tenant in situ scheme and housing first. Tenant in situ acquisitions have been an important measure in the prevention of homelessness since their introduction in 2023. The Government has therefore agreed to continue such acquisitions in 2025 and has increased the funding available for second-hand social...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for his question. We have provided significant money for second-hand acquisitions for this year. The second-hand acquisition programme was always introduced as a temporary, short-term measure to deal with the ending of the eviction ban. Sinn Féin's own housing policy proposes a very sharp reduction in tenant in situ acquisitions to 800, far below what we have to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: Then there is, as Sinn Féin proposes, the full-year reset the Deputy seems to be looking for for this year. The reality is that one engages in acquisitions, there is a significant overhang from last year, that will be worked out through this year, additional funding will be provided for next year and we will keep the matter under review.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authorities (15 May 2025)

James Browne: I have not misrepresented Sinn Féin's policy. Its policy is very clear. The policy I read referred to 1,800 houses reduced by 200 each year, down to 800, so Sinn Féin's policy is to significantly slash second-hand acquisitions. It is in black and white in its own policy.