Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1440. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the circumstances of a family can be examined (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41309/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I am unable to comment on individual cases, however, as detailed under Housing for All, a comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of delivery partners.

These measures are primarily aimed at supporting affordability constrained households, including single income households, with incomes too high to qualify for social housing.

Specifically, 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 at: www.firsthomescheme.ie/

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

More information about the range of schemes available, including specific scheme criteria, can be found at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/campaigns/doors-open/

My Department will continue to liaise with all delivery partners to further the development of the affordable housing delivery programme and to ensure that each scheme responds effectively to all affordable housing needs identified at a local level.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1443. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the annual affordable housing delivery targets for each county and local authority in Ireland for each of the years 2025 to 2028, in tabular form; the rationale behind the allocation of these targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41341/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1448. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if demand assessments have been conducted to determine the need for affordable housing in each county and local authority; and if these assessments have influenced target setting. [41346/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1443 and 1448 together.

Local authorities were asked to prepare Housing Delivery Action Plans following the publication in September 2021 of Housing for All which set out the Government's target to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes by 2030.

In preparing these plans local authorities were asked to assess the level of new housing need with affordability constraint projected for their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) tool and plan their provision accordingly. Local authorities with an identified high level of affordable housing need were asked to include provision for Affordable Housing within their Action Plans and were set five-year Affordable Delivery Targets.

An identified high level of affordable housing need arises where the HNDA indicates that, of the total projected need for new housing in the county, over 5% of new households will not qualify for social housing but will also be constrained in accessing housing by their ability to afford to buy or rent.

Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale, and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. The Government’s ambition is to build on the progress made to date under Housing for All, and deliver over 300,000 homes in the period from 2025 to 2030 equating to an annual average of over 50,000 homes per year, building up to 60,000 in 2030.

Work on translating these revised national housing targets into local, tenure specific targets is ongoing and at an advanced stage. This work is expected to be completed in the coming months.

These tenure specific targets will both inform the revision of existing affordable housing targets and further inform the development of the Starter Home Programme supports set out in the Programme for Government which will be set out in the new Housing Plan.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1444. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide a breakdown of the number of affordable homes delivered in each county and local authority since the introduction of the affordable housing scheme; the details of the types of schemes used (details supplied). [41342/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1445. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide details of the actual delivery of affordable homes in each county and local authority against the targets set for the years since the scheme’s inception; and the reason for the significant shortfalls. [41343/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1447. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the mechanisms that are in place to monitor the progress of affordable housing delivery at local authority level; and the way performance is evaluated and reported. [41345/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1444, 1445 and 1447 together.

Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale, and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures, including affordable purchase. 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.

From a standing start, over 14,500 affordable housing solutions have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All to the end Q1 2025. 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 Q1 2025 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

While I as Minister and the Department have a policy and funding role in relation to affordable housing matters, the administration of each publicly-funded development and housing scheme is a matter for the delivery partner concerned.

Under Housing for All, the affordable housing delivery target for 2025 is 6,400 and a very strong pipeline is already in place across our delivery partners, including Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency and the First Home Scheme.

Building on this progress, my Department will continue to engage with all delivery partners to further the development of the affordable housing delivery pipeline for 2025 and beyond, and to ensure that the affordable housing programme responds effectively to the affordable housing needs identified at a local level.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1446. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the annual funding allocated to each local authority for affordable housing delivery since the scheme began; and the projected funding for each of the years 2025 to 2028. [41344/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is one of a number of funding streams the Government has made available to support the delivery of affordable housing.

The AHF supports the provision of affordable homes by local authorities on a project by project basis and is open to all local authorities, via an ongoing, rolling programme, to assist in the development and delivery of suitable affordable purchase and cost rental housing schemes in response to identified local needs.

To date, over €545m in approved funding support from the Affordable Housing Fund is supporting projects across 22 local authorities to deliver over 6,000 affordable purchase and cost rental homes from 2022 to 2028. Projects for delivery later this year and going forward continue to be submitted, considered and approved for funding support on an ongoing basis.

Almost 1,850 affordable purchase and cost rental homes have been delivered by local authorities from 2022 up to and including Q1 of 2025 with a breakdown by local authority available on my Department's website at the following link - www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/#affordable-housing-delivery

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1449. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline the main challenges or barriers faced by local authorities in delivering affordable housing; and the steps being taken to address these issues. [41347/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale, and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. 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.

From a standing start, over 14,500 affordable housing solutions have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All to the end Q1 2025, including nearly 1,900 local authority Affordable Purchase and Cost Rental homes.

Local authorities tasked with delivering affordable housing in line with the Affordable Housing Act 2021 face challenges. Affordable housing solutions must deliver a significant discount on housing market purchase prices or rents while covering the cost of identifying, developing and delivering viable affordable housing schemes. Local authorities are also developing their own internal capacity and expertise to support affordable housing delivery.

The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is available to assist all local authorities to respond effectively to identified localised affordable housing needs in their area by delivering additional affordable housing stock whether through direct construction, or in partnership with developers. Subvention is available to local authorities to bring forward suitable schemes where homes can be offered to eligible applicants for purchase at an affordable price on a shared equity basis or for rent at a rent based only on the cost of building, maintaining and managing the rental property.

My Department has worked with the Housing Delivery Coordination Office and the County and City Management Association to identify additional staffing resources required by local authorities. Funding provision has been made and sanction granted for a complement of 140.5 additional specialist and administrative positions across 27 local authorities to help ramp up affordable housing delivery. These posts are solely dedicated to affordable housing delivery and equip local authorities with increased levels of in-house expertise in key areas such as design, procurement, surveying, engineering and administration.

The Government and the Department is providing the necessary funding and supports for local authorities to address the challenges they face in delivering affordable housing at scale. Local authorities continue to work proactively, in conjunction with all delivery partners, to expand and develop affordable housing delivery programmes and to ensure an effective response to the affordable housing needs identified within their functional areas.