Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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54. To ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee D, infrastructure, will next meet. [38619/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The next meeting of Cabinet Committee D is not yet scheduled.

As I have previously indicated to the House, the Committee works to ensure a coordinated approach to the delivery and ongoing development of policy across the areas of infrastructure investment and delivery, housing, and climate action. There is significant work underway across Government departments and agencies on each of these areas, in particular through regular discussion of these matters at meetings of Government.

Cabinet Committee D also provides a forum for strategic oversight of the delivery of Project Ireland 2040, the Government’s overarching policy initiative to achieve balanced development and meet the infrastructure needs of our growing population.

Under the two pillars of Project Ireland 2040 - the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan – four funds, totalling €4 billion in investment, have been launched in the areas of rural and urban regeneration and development, climate action, and disruptive technologies. These funds will play a very important role in addressing the challenges identified in the National Planning Framework, such as the development of housing within the cities identified and the strengthening of our rural economies and communities.

In addition, the Land Development Agency, another cornerstone initiative of Project Ireland 2040 was recently launched. It will work to ensure the optimal use and management of State land through strategic development and regeneration, with an immediate focus on delivering homes, including social and affordable homes.

Housing remains a central priority for the Government. While the indicators show that the numbers of new houses being built is up by more than a third compared to this time last year and is increasing month on month, we recognise that we are still facing a huge challenge in meeting demand.

In addition to the work in this area through Project Ireland 2040, we will continue to focus on increasing housing supply, tackling homelessness and increasing the availability of affordable and social housing through the delivery of Rebuilding Ireland and the additional policy measures announced by Minister Murphy to tackle these issues.

Climate action objectives are also at the heart of Project Ireland 2040 and building on the National Mitigation Plan an investment of €22 billion in Exchequer and non-Exchequer funding will be made to ensure a step change in climate action policy. In this context, I together my colleagues, Ministers Naughten, Creed, Murphy and Ross, met with the Climate Change Advisory Council on Friday last to discuss the priorities from their 2018 Annual Report and recent statement to the Joint Oireachtas Committee.