Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the main policy achievements of his Department since 27 June 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61653/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, is the foundation for my Department's main policy initiatives. My Department has commitments across 10 of the 12 Missions in the Programme. My Department's Statement of Strategy for the period 2021-2025 was published in April 2021 and sets out our strategic goals, objectives and actions for the period ahead. It is available on my Department's website at the following link www.gov.ie/en/publication/9a047-statement-of-strategy-2021-2025/.

My Department's website, www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage, is a good source of information about activities and initiatives undertaken but by way of illustration, in addition to significant initiatives undertaken to manage the impact of COVID-19 and to prepare for Brexit, some of the key actions delivered since 27 June 2020 include:

- the publication of 'Housing for All - a new Housing Plan for Ireland' and the continued progression of initiatives covered under this policy;

- the launching of the Local Authority Home Loan Scheme;

- the enactment of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 which established the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme, introduced Cost Rental tenancies, established the First Home Shared Equity Scheme and expanded Part V of the planning requirements;

- the extension of the Pyrite Remediation Scheme to include the administration area of Limerick;

- the enactment of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022;

- the delivery of the largest voids programme to date;

- an increased budget to support local authority homeless programmes and Covid-19 enhanced services;

- the establishment of the National Homeless Action Committee (NHAC);

- the setting of targets for social housing delivery in the period 2022-2025 as part of the Department's lead role in the development of the Housing for All strategy;

- the establishment of the Emergency Refurbishment programme;

- publication of the Housing Need Demand Assessment tool;

- the establishment, with the Department of Rural and Community Development, of a Town Centre First inter-Departmental Group on the regeneration of towns and villages;

- the enactment of the Land Development Agency Act 2021;

- the establishment of the Regulatory Authority for Approved Housing Bodies;

- the enactment of the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021;

- the development of the Marine Spatial Plan;

- the development of the National Marine Planning Framework;

- the enactment of the Water Services (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2022 to separate Irish Water from the Ervia Group;

- the enactment of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 to establish an Electoral Commission, modernise the electoral registration process and introduce regulation of online political advertising;

- increased funding for the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and the Historic Structures Fund;

- the development of the 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan; and

- the publication of the Strategic Action Plan for the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Regular updates, in the form of press releases, are also issued by my Department, particularly when outcomes are achieved, and these can be found at www.gov.ie/en/search/?type=press_releases&organisation=department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage