Written answers
				Tuesday, 18 February 2025
  				
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
				 
  - Ministerial Responsibilities 
 406. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his responsibilities in cases in which a special area of conservation in Donegal is under threat by a planning application...
- Housing Schemes 
 407. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide a timeline for when the 2025 funding for tenant in-situ acquisitions will be allocated to Fingal County Council...
- Development Contributions 
 409. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider extending the temporary waiver in respect of local authority development contributions, in view of the...
- Departmental Data 
 412. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is aware of the application for a gold mine by a company (details supplied) in the Sperrin Mountains, County Tyrone; if...
- Rental Sector 
 413. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide an update on the commitment in the Housing for All policy to introducing minimum BERs in the private rental sector...
- Housing Schemes 
 417. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he intends to extend the help to buy and new home schemes to include second hand houses or apartments; and if he will make...
- Coastal Erosion 
 418. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will seek emergency funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service and meet with them to address the urgent and...
- Housing Schemes 
 419. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider reviewing the government criteria for the local authority affordable housing schemes, which stipulates...
- Water Services 
 420. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when a referendum on the public ownership of water services will be held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5531/25]
- Departmental Funding 
 422. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department or bodies under the aegis of his Department received funding support for projects of any kind from the...
- Housing Schemes 
 423. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he plans to raise the income threshold for social housing qualification in Tipperary from its current base of...
- Derelict Sites 
 427. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are any plans to update or amend the Derelict Sites Act 2020 to allow local authorities to compulsorily acquire...
- Construction Industry 
 428. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the policy of his Department toward the use of 3D printing for home construction; if he envisions widescale usage; and if he...
- Land Issues 
 431. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of cases that have occurred of the dezoning of land due to the 50:50 rule within the National Planning Framework....
- Planning Issues 
 433. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when the Planning and Development Act 2024 draft exempted regulations will be published; and when the public consultation...
- Meteorological Services 
 435. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated full-year costs to recruit four additional WTE hydrometeorologists for Met Eireann; and if he will make a...
- Housing Policy 
 437. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will ask his officials to investigate making arrangements to set aside a portion of new cost rental developments to...
- Defective Building Materials 
 438. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the increased rates and cap under the defective concrete blocks scheme will be applied retrospectively to homeowners who...
- Gender Balance 
 439. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the gender breakdown of his Department in respect of principal officers, assistant secretaries and secretaries general,...
- Grant Payments 
 441. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government whether he will consider increasing the threshold of the housing aid for older people grant to cover the cost of installation...
- Water Services 
 442. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when group water schemes that were unsuccessful in the recent Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2024-2026 funding allocation...
- Housing Policy 
 443. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government what funding was made available to Cork County Council in 2024 in terms of returning vacant housing units to council housing...
- Defective Building Materials 
 444. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are plans to implement a once-off transitional measure in respect of the defective concrete blocks grant scheme that...
- Programme for Government 
 445. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are plans for a referendum on lowering the voting age to 16 years-of-age, given no reference was made to it in the...
- Development Contributions 
 446. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current balances for development contributions, by local authority, and the current expected expenditure of said amount by...
- Housing Provision 
 447. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to list all approved housing body social and cost rental development proposals that are currently with his Department waiting...
- Departmental Staff 
 448. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of staff sanction requests for housing staff currently awaiting decision with his Department, with a breakdown by...
- Immigration Policy 
 450. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he accepts that immigration and inward migration are creating significant challenges in terms of meeting housing demand...
- Planning Issues 
 452. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will publish the Mulcahy report into planning irregularities in Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Tax Code 
 453. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to proposals in Spain in relation to taxation on real estate bought by non-EU residents...
- Weather Events 
 454. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government in the wake of storm Éowyn, if his Department will take measures to further support local authorities in the...
- Departmental Bodies 
 460. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the establishment of a Nature Advisory Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6174/25]
- Legislative Measures 
 461. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he intends to progress the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2024 with regard to the rights of students in digs...
- Approved Housing Bodies 
 462. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there is any policy to ensure that approved housing bodies repair any damage done to neighbouring properties as a...
- Homeless Accommodation 
 463. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homeless HAP applications received in 2024 and to date in 2025, broken down by each local authority; and if he...
- Local Authorities 
 466. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he intends to supply additional funding for priority-3 adaptation grants to local authorities; and if he will make a...
- Departmental Properties 
 467. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide details of the empty buildings, by county, in his Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the...
- Emergency Accommodation 
 469. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the lack of emergency accommodation available in Cork south west; whether it is his...
- Local Authorities 
 470. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 852 of 9 September 2024, if the review of the working group has been completed; if a...
- Defective Building Materials 
 471. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of appeals for County Clare have been assessed by the Housing Agency under the defective concrete block scheme; and...
- Artificial Intelligence 
 472. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department has taken advice in respect of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within his Department in 2024 and to...
- Housing Schemes 
 474. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the actions he will take to ensure that single parent families that do not qualify for any existing housing scheme or payment...
- Departmental Data 
 475. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide a detailed breakdown and a full disclosure on several matters relating to the curlew conservation programme...
- Care Services 
 479. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be made in relation to a carer’s allowance application (details supplied) after the person was...
- Social Welfare Schemes 
 480. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be made regarding an invalidity pension appeal for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a...
- Care Services 
 481. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be made in relation to a domiciliary care allowance (details supplied); and if he will make a statement...
- Personal Public Service Numbers 
 483. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures in place to prevent persons accessing social protection services using duplicated personal public service (PPS)...
- Social Welfare Benefits 
 484. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason social welfare accounts were suspended in County Monaghan during Storm Éowyn; the recourse available to those...
- Departmental Funding 
 485. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department or bodies under the aegis of his Department received funding support for projects of any kind from the...
- Social Welfare Benefits 
 486. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to review a family income supplement application for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the...
- Citizens Information Services 
 487. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the registration on 8 March 1975 of the first independent and impartial,...
- Social Welfare Benefits 
 490. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a person (details supplied) can expect to receive their humanitarian claim; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Care Services 
 491. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of disallowed applications for carer's allowance in 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make...
- Social Welfare Payments 
 492. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5823/25]
- Pension Provisions 
 493. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware of an issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5828/25]
- Departmental Staff 
 494. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the gender breakdown of his Department in respect of principal officers, assistant secretaries and secretaries general,...
- Departmental Data 
 495. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 760 of 5 February 2025, the average number of days between when a domiciliary care...
- Departmental Priorities 
 497. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update and proposed timeline for the removal of the means test for the carer's allowance; and if he will make a...
- Pension Provisions 
 498. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an appeal of a pension decision (details supplied) can be examined to see if the matter could be resolved. [6141/25]
- Departmental Data 
 499. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there has ever been or if a scheme is in place to deal with claims (details supplied); if this is deemed separate from a...
- Social Welfare Inspections 
 500. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he intends reinstating the service wherein a social welfare inspector travels to the offshore islands to allow those who...
- Departmental Properties 
 501. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide details of the empty buildings, by county, in his Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the...
- Weather Events 
 503. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the humanitarian assistance scheme, or other financial assistance, is available to those requiring tree removal...
- Social Welfare Benefits 
 504. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost if the telephone support allowance increased to €4 per week. [6290/25]
- Social Welfare Inspections 
 505. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of WTE medical assessors within his Department in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [6291/25]
- Social Welfare Appeals 
 506. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision on an appeal can be expedited (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6302/25]
- Social Welfare Eligibility 
 507. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department will suspend all reviews of current recipients of carer’s benefit given that the programme for...
- Artificial Intelligence 
 508. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department has taken advice in respect of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within his Department in 2024 and to...
- Social Welfare Inspections 
 509. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the specific training on foetal alcohol spectrum disorder that each deciding officer, appeals officer and medical assessor...
- Social Welfare Eligibility 
 510. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to support a matter (details supplied); if the Latvian authorities responded on a pension issue; and if he will outline the...
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