Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of affordable housing options which have been delivered to-date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65636/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of Government’s housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025 – 2030.

The new plan builds upon the significant progress made under Housing for All, with nearly 16,900 affordable housing solutions having been delivered since it's launch, including 3,918 in the first half of 2025.

My Department publishes 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 Q2 2025 is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/overall-social-and-affordable-housing-provision/ .

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he is taking to increase the delivery of affordable housing in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65157/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of Government’s housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025 – 2030. The plan reinforces and expands the range of existing measures being implemented by Government to tackle the issues of supply and affordability, thereby supporting the increased provision of new homes to purchase and rent.

As outlined in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025 – 2030, all local authorities are required to prepare a new Housing Delivery Action Plan (HDAP), which will identify need within their areas and set out how this will be met.

These new HDAP's will build upon the over 16,900 affordable housing solutions that have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All, including nearly 930 in Meath.

Meath County Council has funding approval in place for ten schemes to deliver 131 affordable starter homes for purchase, with the support of the Affordable Housing Fund, by end 2027, of which 77 have been delivered by end Q2 2025.

In addition, six Approved Housing Bodies projects have been approved to date under the Cost Rental Equity Loan scheme in Meath, with 64 Cost Rental homes delivered to date and a further 168 to be delivered by end 2026.

To further support the development of Meath’s affordable housing programme, my Department is funding 5 additional administrative and technical staffing posts dedicated to affordable housing delivery.

My Department will continue engaging with all delivery partners to further develop starter homes delivery, and ensure that the Starter Homes Programme addresses demand identified at a local level.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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49. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his targets for the delivery of social and affordable housing in County Monaghan. [65815/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's new Housing Plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities aims to deliver 300,000 new homes in the period to 2030, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 starter home supports. The Plan seeks to significantly scale-up delivery of new build social homes over the coming years, increasing from an average of 8,000 or so homes a year at present to an average of 12,000 per year.

Monaghan County Council has a target to deliver 61 new build social homes this year and 62 new homes in 2026. Under the Plan local authorities will be issued with new social housing targets out to 2030, work is ongoing in this regard.

While Monaghan County Council has not been set an affordable housing delivery target out to 2026, 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. Monaghan is determined to use the AHF facility to respond effectively to identified needs in Monaghan Town. My Department is funding a dedicated Staff Officer position to complement the housing delivery team in Monaghan and ensure a dedicated resource is in place to focus on further developing the affordable housing delivery programme.

Under the new Plan each local authority will prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan (HDAP) setting out their planned delivery of social and affordable housing out to 2030. This development of their HDAP’s will be undertaken in collaboration with delivery partners, including the Land Development Agency, Approved Housing Bodies, and the development sector. Each local authority’s implementation of the Starter Homes Programme, will be informed by local need, as identified by the Housing Needs and Demand Assessment framework, taking into account the need to provide the right mix of homes within their area. Planned social housing delivery with have regard to need as identified from their social housing waiting list.

Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social and affordable homes at scale and to continue accelerating social and affordable housing supply.