Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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292. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he will take to increase the availability of affordable housing in Carlow and Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14815/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of the Government’s housing policy. As detailed under Housing for All, the Government plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes, by 2030. A comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of delivery partners.

Local authorities, including Carlow and Kilkenny County Councils, have carried out a Housing Needs and Demand Assessment in their areas. On foot of this assessment, both local authorities have developed and published their Housing Delivery Action Plans, outlining their plans to deliver social and affordable housing during the 2022-2026 period. Each local authority's Delivery Action Plan is available on their official website.

The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is available to all local authorities to assist towards the cost of developing affordable housing at locations where significant affordability needs have been identified. My Department, the Housing Agency and Housing Delivery Co-ordination Office of the Local Government Management Agency continue to be available to assist local authorities in relation to ongoing development of their affordable housing delivery programmes.

In addition, the First Home Scheme supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. Further, since September 2023, the First Home Scheme now supports those who wish to build their own home. The scheme is available nationwide and more information can be found on the First Home Scheme website.

Other measures such as the Local Authority Home Loan, the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Scheme, the Help to Buy Incentive, and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant are also available nationwide to help make home ownership more affordable.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and delivery partners in each local authority area. Data for the years 2022 up to Q3 2024 is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/?#affordable-housing-delivery.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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293. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of new homes completed in counties Carlow and Kilkenny in 2024; his expectations for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14816/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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New dwelling completions data are published by the CSO on a quarterly basis and are available on its website at www.cso.ie.

Completions disaggregated by dwelling type (scheme house, single house, apartment) are available at local authority level at data.cso.ie/table/NDQ06.

My Department does not forecast new home completions in any year.

Sectoral commentators are forecasting a wide range for new home completions this year, with published forecasts suggesting somewhere between 32,000 to 38,000 new homes might be delivered this year. These forecasts will fluctuate as the year progresses, with a more certain picture likely only emerging towards year-end.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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294. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of hectares of land owned by Kilkenny County Council, and Carlow County Council, zoned for housing; the nationwide figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14817/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The zoning of land for particular purposes, including housing, is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their overall statutory plan function generally as part of a development plan under sections 9 to 13 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended), but can at present also be carried out as part of a local area plan (LAP) process. The making of a development plan or an LAP is a reserved function of the elected members of each authority.

It should be noted in the first instance that the zoning of land within a development plan or a local area plan is not broken down on the basis of individual sites or parcels of land in individual ownerships. My Department therefore does not have the requested details for local authorities available.

However, the Land Development Agency (LDA) has developed the State Lands Database which provides a detailed and mapped representation of the extent and location of lands owned by public bodies including local authorities in Ireland.

Details of the zoning status of lands identified in the State Lands Database are available as part of the information provided by the LDA. This zoning information is sourced from the MyPlan.ie platform which amalgamates the zoning information from statutory City and County Development Plans nationally.

The LDA has also completed the Register of Relevant Lands, being lands owned by local authorities and bodies listed under Schedule 1 and 2 of the Land Development Agency Act 2021, in urban population areas greater than 10,000.

Both the State Lands Database and the Register of Relevant Lands are also available in an online map format on the LDA website at the following link: lda.ie/register-of-relevant-lands/map/.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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295. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the action being taken to ensure that additional land is zoned for housing in Carlow and Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14818/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The zoning of land for particular purposes, including housing, is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their overall statutory plan function generally as part of a development plan under sections 9 to 13 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended), but can at present also be carried out as part of a local area plan (LAP) process. The making of a development plan or an LAP is a reserved function of the elected members of each authority.

In preparing their statutory plans, including in relation to the zoning of land for particular purposes, the elected members are required to consider and be consistent with, as appropriate, the National Planning Framework, Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and relevant Ministerial planning guidelines.

The National Planning Framework (NPF) (2018), together with the National Development Plan 2021 (NDP), combine to form Project Ireland 2040, the overarching planning and investment framework for the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland.

The NPF sets out high-level national policies and objectives, which are essential to achieving proper planning and sustainable development, with a clear vision to guide future development and investment decisions. The strategy sets out the spatial planning policy approach to accommodating projected population growth to 2040 in a manner which delivers balanced regional development. Since the NPF was first published in 2018, the regional strategies and local authority development plans have largely been updated to reflect the objectives of the NPF.

In 2023, Government approved the commencement of the process of revising the current NPF, and a Draft Revised NPF was published for public consultation in July 2024. The finalisation of the approval process for the Revised NPF plays a key role in delivering on our broader objectives across Government, and in particular the scaling up of housing supply over the coming years.

Subject to the approval of Government and the Houses of the Oireachtas, the NPF Revision process will be finalised and this will allow the Revised NPF to take effect in the planning system.

The final Revised NPF will provide the basis for the review and updating of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) and local authority development plans to reflect matters such as updated housing figures, projected jobs growth and renewable energy capacity allocations, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes.

In relation to housing, the Draft Revised NPF published in 2024 sets out a need to plan for the delivery of approximately 50,000 additional homes per annum every year to 2040.

The NPF does not zone land and the key next step further to the finalisation of the NPF Revision is to address, through the issuing of further policy direction by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the spatial distribution of the housing requirement by local authority area through the provision of updated planned housing requirements on a local authority by local authority basis. This translation of updated NPF population and housing figures to the local authority level will facilitate development plans being updated, to ensure that a strategic plan-led approach to future housing development is provided that is based on the relevant up to date legislative and policy framework.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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296. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on proposed new rural planning guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14819/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the NPF published in 2018) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change have become more central to the operation of the planning system.

Updated Rural Housing Guidelines are currently being considered by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the National Planning Framework (NPF), in particular on National Policy Objective (NPO) 19 which relates to rural housing. This objective makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence (i.e. areas within the commuter catchment of cities, towns and centres of employment) on the one hand, and structurally weaker rural areas where population levels may be low or declining, on the other. NPO 19 is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social or economic need are to be applied by planning authorities in rural areas under urban influence.

The draft Rural Housing Guidelines will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high level policy framework set by the NPF. The guidelines will continue to allow county development plans to provide for housing in the countryside based on the considerations detailed in NPO 19 of the NPF, and will also highlight the need to manage development in certain areas, such as the areas around cities and larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid over-development.

While planning policy is a national, as opposed to an EU competence, due care is being taken to ensure the updated guidelines will not operate to conflict with fundamental EU freedoms, comply with EU environmental legislative requirements and have due regard to decisions of the European Court of Justice. The draft planning guidelines will address these complex environmental and legal issues, while also providing a framework for the sustainable management of housing in rural areas.

To ensure compliance with all of these considerations, the Guidelines will need to be subject to environmental assessment and legal review, following which it is intended that they will be published for a period of public consultation.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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297. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applications received for the vacant property grant in 2024, and to date in 2025, by local authority, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14821/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of croí cónaithe grants that have been processed to date to help address vibrancy of town and village centres, vacancy, accommodation and dereliction across County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14849/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of croí cónaithe grants that have been applied for to date to help address vibrancy of town and village centres, vacancy, accommodation and dereliction across County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14850/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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302. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of croí cónaithe grants that have been paid out to date to help address vibrancy of town and village centres, vacancy, accommodation and dereliction across County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14851/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of all croí cónaithe grant applications applied for since the scheme was first introduced to help address vibrancy of town and village centres, vacancy, accommodation and dereliction across County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14852/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to simplify the Croí Cónaithe scheme so as to help this excellent scheme reach its full potential in addressing vibrancy of town and village centres, vacancy and dereliction across County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14859/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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308. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of croí cónaithe grants refused to date across County Kerry, the reasons these applications have been refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14860/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 297, 300, 301, 302, 303, 307 and 308 together.

Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant introduced in July 2022, provides a grant of up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence and for properties which will be made available for rent. A top-up grant of up to €20,000 is available where the property is confirmed to be derelict, bringing the total grant available for a derelict property up to a maximum of €70,000.

Take-up of the grant has been significant since it was launched and by the end of December 2024 over 11,300 grant applications were received with over 7,700 approved. Payment of grants by local authorities commenced at the end of 2023 as refurbishment works started to be completed and this has steadily increased with 1,449 grants paid by Q4 2024.

My Department publishes quarterly statistics on the grant which include the number of grant applications received, approved, rejected and paid broken down per Local Authority. The Q1 2025 grant statistics will be published in April. Grant data can be accessed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/4bbe4-vacant-property-refurbishment-grant-statistics/#:~:text=A%20grant%20of%20up%20to,property%20up%20to%20%E2%82%AC70%2C000.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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298. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of tenant-in-situ purchases made by Carlow County Council and Kilkenny County Council, and nationally, in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14822/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Tenant in Situ Acquisitions were introduced by way of Government decision in 2023 as a short term response to the reported uplift in sales by landlords of homes which were within the HAP and RAS schemes in order to prevent potential homelessness where other solutions could not be found for the affected tenants.

A further Government decision extended such acquisitions into 2024 with approval granted for 1,300 Tenant in Situ acquisitions in addition to the 200 priority acquisitions target for 2024 contained in Housing for All.

Tenant in Situ acquisitions have been an important measure in the prevention of homelessness since their introduction in 2023. Government has therefore agreed to continue such acquisitions in 2025. My Department has notified local authorities on the extension of the programme and a circular setting out the arrangements will issue shortly.

Local authorities take appropriate steps to ensure that their first response will be to support households to prevent homelessness in cases where tenants have been served with a notice of termination by their landlord. A local authority will assess the options available in each case and decide the appropriate action.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. Comprehensive data on social and affordable housing is published on my Department's website up to Quarter 3 2024, including completed acquisitions: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.

Data for all of these schemes up to Q4 2024 is being collected and collated.