Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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89. To ask the Minister for Finance if there are plans to increase the local authority borrowing envelope or to separate local authority borrowing for housing projects from the overall borrowing envelope. [16186/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Budget 2025 included a record €6 billion in capital spending for housing, including direct Exchequer spending, investment by the Land Development Agency and borrowing by the Housing Finance Agency. This level of public spending supports the State’s involvement in every aspect of housing — land purchase, construction, purchasing and funding through a number of channels for delivery.

The Government believes that the State has an important role to play in the housing market and this is evident from the increased levels of social and affordable housing constructed in recent years. However, the State alone cannot fund all our housing requirements.

My Department estimates that to deliver c.50,000 units per year, around €20 billion in development finance will be required. That level of sustained investment is such that while the State is an important part of the solution, we must also attract additional, diverse, and stable sources of private finance.

Moreover, it is clear that increased spending alone will not solve the challenges in the housing system. There are a number of recognised structural and real-economy barriers to homes being built. These include, inter alia, planning delays, labour shortages, and structurally higher costs.

The Government is addressing these issues in a sustained and coordinated way, most notably with implementation of the Planning and Development Act, which will provide greater clarity and certainty, improve the investment environment and boost output.

Housing policy is a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and any request for changes to local authority borrowing policy should be considered in the context of housing policy overall.