Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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203. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline the number of housing units realised in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford that have availed of the vacant homes refurbishment grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55745/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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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. In order to qualify for the grant, the property must be vacant for two years or more at the time of application.

My Department publishes data on the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant on its website on a quarterly basis, which includes the number of applications, approvals and the total number and value of grants paid per local authority. This data also includes a breakdown of applications for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the Derelict Property Top-up Grant for every quarter. The Q2 2025 grant statistics were published on 18th July 2025 and can be accessed at the following link: .

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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204. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of social housing units completed by county, for the years 2022 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55799/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Q1 2025 and 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/.

My Department also publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR), which provides details of social housing developments, their location and their funding programme that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 1 2025. The Q1 2025 CSR and all previous versions of the CSR are available on the Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/

A version of the CSR file can also be downloaded for analysis by local authority, Approved Housing Body etc. at this link: opendata.housing.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q1-2025 The Q2 2025 Construction Status Report is currently being compiled.

Data for Q2 2025 is currently being collated and will be published shortly.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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205. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of approved housing assistance payment tenancies in County Kildare from 2022 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55802/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate housing support that is available to all eligible households throughout the State. Under HAP, a tenant sources their own accommodation in the private rented market. At the end of Q1 2025, almost 127,000 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were 52,657 households actively in receipt of HAP support.

The table below provides a breakdown of the total number of active HAP tenancies in Kildare County Council from 2022 to end Q1 2025, in addition to the number of new HAP tenancies set up in each year.

John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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207. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of individual sites that were subject to core I-WeBS counts in each of the years 2011 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55923/25]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS) is Ireland’s national programme for monitoring population trends of wintering waterbirds and the habitats they use. The survey has been running for over 30 years. The I-WeBS count surveys are completed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), by professional staff of the survey service provider (under contract) and by a network of skilled volunteers.

During the period from winter 2011/2012 to winter 2015/2016, a total of 631 sites received at least one I-WeBS core count. During the period from winter 2016/2017 to winter 2022/2023, a total of 486 sites received at least one I-WeBS core count. The number of I-WeBS sites counted under I-WeBS each winter season may vary due to a range of factors, including weather, flooding, access, and the availability of volunteers and NPWS staff.