James Browne
Wexford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I cannot accept amendments Nos. 10 and 11. The interpretation of "lawfully resident" and "habitually resident" is construed in accordance with section 20A, which sets out the new residency requirements for social housing applicants.”
“The safety net provision is to be provided by the local authority on a night-to-night basis, and this is to allow local authorities to reassess the circumstances each day to determine whether the safety net should still be provided.”
“I cannot accept amendment No. 21. This amendment proposes the introduction of a social housing passport allowing households to transfer between local authority areas while retaining their original waiting list or transfer list position. The amendment as it stands is well-intentioned.”
“No one factor is intended to be decisive and it is not necessary for a person to score strongly on all five factors outlined in section 20A(7) in order to get a positive decision. However, the local authority decision-maker must be confident that there is strong evidence that it is the applicant's main centre of interest.”
“In relation to Senator McCarthy’s amendment, while it was a very well intentioned and constructed amendment, it has been disallowed. It was not my decision on those matters. I am satisfied the safeguards and safety net are there for those who are not entitled by way of legal or habitual residence.”
“In practical terms, if an Irish citizen has severed ties abroad and has decided to return home, the process of establishing habitual residency could be determined from day one.”
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“This is about addressing the housing crisis in this country. We are bringing forward and implementing solutions. We are giving tenants security and we are giving certainty to tenants, landlords and investors so that we can drive supply. This is about giving hope and delivering homes for people. I want people in their homes right across this country, and that is what we are doing.”
“-----with 1,900 this year and a pipeline of 12,000. It is driving the supply and the building of homes. Does Deputy Hearne want to know why I accuse the Social Democrats in particular with regard to social media clips? He stood up and started using hyperbole about the Famine. Deputy Hayes, sitting beside him, stood up and started talking about the altar of greed. What did he do the minute he sat down? He looked over at Deputy Hearne, gave him a wink and Deputy Hearne gave a big smile. That is why I accuse the Social Democrats with regard to social media. It is performative effort in here every single day. At least there is an attempt at policy on the other side.”
“The Housing Commission recognised we could not continue with what we were doing. The Housing Agency investigated and recognised that we had some of the most restrictive rent controls in the world, which was killing supply of the homes that we need right across the country. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, said we had to move. We have to give people hope and we have to drive housing supply across the country. The Land Development Agency, LDA, has built 2,300 social, affordable and cost rental homes-----”
“It allows people to put down roots and have that sense of security. The number one driver of homelessness is a notice to quit. Deputy Ó Broin is right, in that there is a churn of about every three and a half years, but this security of tenure will change that. The Deputy's pronouncements are made on a no-change basis but this will lengthen tenancies that by giving security of tenure to people. The major obstacle to security of tenure under existing regimes is that people can issue no-fault evictions. That will now come to an end for the majority of tenants and, for a minority of tenants, we are substantially restricting those opportunities and giving people at least six years. That is what is in here for tenants. Opposition Deputies have all referred to landlords.”
“What they do is crystallise the lack of hope for everybody trying to get somewhere to live because they are never going to get a home to live in. We have to drive supply. The situation at the moment is very temporary. We are now moving to permanent rent regulation in this country. We are giving certainty to tenants, landlords, investors and the State by bringing in a resolution to the rental situation in this country into the future. That is really important. The security of tenure element has been ignored. These reforms will ensure that, for the first time, tenants will have security of tenure. They will have a minimum of six years. With a large landlord, they will have a tenancy for as long as they need it, which is crucial. That is not the case right now. They can be confident about not receiving that notice of termination.”
“Everything I have done since becoming Minister for housing has been to address the housing crisis in this country, and I have always acknowledged there is a housing crisis in this country. Everything I have done is to try to address the housing crisis to get people into the homes they need, whether they are social, affordable or private, for rent or ownership, or for people in towns, villages, rural Ireland or inner cities. We have to solve that housing crisis, which is what everything I am doing is doing. How do we do that? One key to it is actually driving supply - yes, the right supply - but we have to drive the supply of homes. Another rent freeze and eviction ban are not going to drive any supply whatsoever.”
“I thank the Deputies. We have been here for nearly three and a half hours debating the first amendment, but that is because there has hardly been a single discussion from the Opposition on the amendment. It has been referred to but most of the debate has not been on the amendment itself. Let us be honest: if the debate was simply on the amendment, we would have moved on a long time ago. I want to address a number of issues. Deputy Ó Broin is using the RTB data for scaremongering. Those were his projections from that data. I completely reject his conclusion. I do not know what his conclusions or projections are based on but they are certainly based on no change. We are going to drive supply.”
“We have increased the resources of the RTB by 70% this year alone. The board will support tenants and ensure that their rights are protected. CSO figures show that there was a 38% increase in apartments in 2025 compared with 2024. Our policies are working; we are going to drive supply and that is how we will solve the housing crisis, the rental crisis and the homelessness crisis. Simply putting the crisis that exists into a permanent freeze will not solve it. Peddling misery will not solve it either.”
“A Freudian slip from the Deputy there. We are driving on and addressing the housing crisis. We want to solve it in order that we can get people into the homes they need. That is why we are driving on with building social homes, affordable homes and private homes. It is also why we are bringing in stronger protections for tenants. In relation to the amendments, Standing Order 204 states the following: Twelve months following the enactment of a Bill, save in the case of the Finance Bill and the Appropriation Bill, the member of the Government or Minister of State who is officially responsible for implementation of the Act shall provide a report which shall review the functioning of the Act and which shall be laid in the Parliamentary Library. This means that automatic reviews of legislation always happen.”
“-----to drive the supply of the homes that we need. We have heard nothing from the Opposition about how it would actually drive the supply of homes in this country. A number of comments were made. Deputy Stanley asked why are rents going up in Laois. Again, it is because of the lack of supply. The only way that people in Laois will get homes to live in is by the supply of homes being increased. That is absolutely crucial right across the country. Record numbers of social houses have been delivered since the 1970s. The status quo only makes things worse. Why are we doing this? It is actually not being done in a hurry. We announced what we would be doing here today last summer. The Bill underwent pre-legislative scrutiny. There has been loads of time to analyse it. We are having a five-hour debate on it here tonight.”
“-----if we freeze the situation as the Opposition wants to do, that is the situation. We are delivering record affordable housing. In 2024 we delivered the largest amount of social housing since the 1970s and we will have the 2025 social housing numbers quite soon as well. That is what we are doing here. We want to solve the housing crisis. That is what we are working towards. I get what the Opposition is doing. It is playing on the fears and emotions of those people who are in a rental situation. We do not have that luxury. It is actually quite cynical to do it. What we are doing is making the tough, difficult decisions-----”
“-----so people can put down roots, so people can feel safe and know what their personal situation is. I think it is quite cynical actually, the Opposition here. The Deputies are united in cynicism against this legislation. We cannot do nothing. If we do what the Opposition wants to do, which is freeze rents and have an eviction ban, it does not even retain the status quo, it is actually going to get worse because our population is increasing by about 70,000 to 90,000 people a year. If we do not increase supply at all-----”
“There are certain exceptions for smaller landlords but they still know they will have at least six years. We know the greatest driver of homelessness is notices to quit. We are going to give security of tenure-----”
“That is what we are doing, while also providing, as I say, for the first time in the history of the State, security of tenure. That is the crucial part we are doing here. Deputies do not have to like everything in the legislation but they are going to vote against security of tenure. That is what they are going to do.”
“In a single sentence earlier, Deputy Hearne said that the landlords are licking their lips, and that they are also getting out. At least when Deputy Ó Broin makes a hypocritical statement he sandwiches it to try to hide it a little bit. You just actually said it in a single sentence. It makes no sense.”
“That means driving the supply of homes in this country. We have delivered more social homes in 2024 than in any year since the 1970s. We have delivered record affordable homes and last year we delivered over 36,000 new homes, the highest since 2011. We have to drive the supply and that needs investment. The Government is investing the largest amount of money in the history of the State into housing delivery. One in every three euro of the new national development plan capital funding is going into delivering housing. That is record funding. The State cannot deliver every housing solution. We need a significant amount of private investment. While we are doing this, we also have to protect renters. For the first time in the history of the State, we are introducing security of tenure. That is what the Deputies are going to vote against.”
“What they want to do is keep the current situation in perpetuity. What I need to do to solve the housing crisis is not simply about protecting existing renters. It is about all those people at home who need somewhere to live.”
“We are trying to solve what is a housing crisis driven by a supply crisis. What have we heard from the Opposition? Have we heard a single solution? The Deputies' only proposal - Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to misery - is to freeze the housing crisis into a permanent misery. That is what they are looking to do.”
“As we know, we live in a housing crisis. That is a supply crisis. We have a rental crisis which is a supply crisis, and we have a homelessness crisis which is a supply crisis. What we are endeavouring to do here is strengthen tenants' rights, which we are doing through security of tenure, which means tenants will know how long they can stay in a property, while driving investment. I say to Deputy Hearne that investment is not a dirty word. We need private investment.”
“I will finish by thanking all those who worked so tirelessly during this event, including our local authority crews, who have been and continue to be on the ground throughout this period, the Civil Defence teams and Irish Red Cross volunteers for their continual support of communities as well as our principal response agencies and staff from our Departments who have also been working on the ground and through the NECG to manage and co-ordinate operations and assistance. I want to continue to review how we handle storms and how we can improve our responses. I welcome the contributions of Members on that.”
“As mentioned previously, a decision was made to extend the qualifying criteria for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment's scheme for small business to ensure as many as possible could qualify and this has been critical for so many. Our local authorities continue to work on the ground to assist the impacted, carry on the clean-up and begin the review of infrastructural damage to estimate the resources required for remediation. My Department will continue to work on the ground to assist the impacted.”
“Learnings from the Storm Éowyn review and the associated review of Departmental and agency capabilities, combined with the enhanced operational readiness of local authorities and other stakeholders ahead of winter 2025-2026, ensured what I believe to be an effective local response to this event, supported by the NECG and all relevant public sector bodies. The national emergency co-ordination group and its associated subgroups met daily until Monday, 9 February and the Government is still working closely with relevant Departments to ensure those who have been impacted are assisted. The humanitarian schemes are still operational and payments are ongoing to those who have been affected.”
“As we moved into the extended flood event, local authorities had crews on the ground, pumping water to protect property, filling and distributing sandbags, managing traffic, assisting homeowners and cleaning up once the flood waters receded. Given the water levels in the reservoir at Poulaphuca it was also deemed necessary to bring together stakeholders on a Liffey catchment subgroup. This group co-ordinated a managed release of water from the reservoir down into the Liffey catchment to ensure the integrity of the reservoir and to mitigate against flooding downstream. This has been managed successfully, with further releases continuing until water levels are deemed to be within acceptable parameters.”
“As well as this, I recognise An Post also effectively collaborated with local authorities to identify vulnerable persons and contributed actively through the humanitarian subgroup. I want to see this continue. The local authority sector, as principal response agency, was to the forefront of the response in affected counties. Before the arrival of Storm Chandra, local authorities were monitoring river levels, activating severe weather teams and crews and standing up flood mitigation measures. As the event became more protracted, mutual aid from local authorities from across the country was made available in the form of demountable flood defences, equipment and staff.”
“The Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross and other voluntary groups provided practical assistance and essential psychosocial support to impacted communities across the country. This is really valuable work. This type of engagement by our committed and excellent voluntary groups ensured those who might be most isolated were checked on and provided with essentials, hospital transport for patients and medical staff and assistance in standing up community support centres, rest centres and other services. I genuinely thank all our community and voluntary groups for working so effectively and so closely with our local authorities during times of serious stress in people's lives, such as during storms like Storm Chandra.”
“This role of the NECG is to get key decision-makers in the room and co-ordinate the whole-of-government response to severe weather. In this case, the event was flooding. At this stage the humanitarian response subgroup was activated and it acted rapidly. The Department of Social Protection activated its scheme for householders, with community welfare officers deployed to impacted areas to provide assistance and advice. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment's scheme for businesses impacted by flooding, administered by the Irish Red Cross, was activated and the qualifying criteria of the scheme were extended to assist as many small local businesses as possible. The amounts available were increased from €20,000 to €100,000.”
“I will speak now about Storm Chandra itself and the key timelines associated with the storm and the response. First of all, a Met Éireann technical briefing was held on Monday, 26 January. The briefing was attended by local authorities, the principal response agencies, Departments, the utilities and other key and essential stakeholders. Those in attendance were updated on soil and river conditions and advised of the incoming weather. All stakeholders were advised to monitor rivers. They were also advised to follow the Met Éireann forecasts closely for updates and any changes to the forecast. Following persistent heavy rain and wind conditions overnight on 26 January, the national emergency co-ordination group was formally convened on 27 January.”
“As a result of these actions, community support centres were established in Donegal in the aftermath of Storm Bert and in Aughrim and Enniscorthy following Storm Chandra. Our community support centres provide a vital focal point in the community. They are aimed at providing safe, secure places where people can gather, charge phones and other devices, get hot drinks and food and receive information and advice. My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, will be funding the provision of a pool of generators for use by community support centres, as well as funding the costs associated with the installation of changeover switches, in pre-identified sites, for their safe use. This is all preparation carried out before this winter season commenced.”
“That is why discussions like this one are an important use of our time. We have to reflect on our readiness and responses and how we can improve all the time. All local authorities reviewed their individual plans in advance of the 2025-2026 winter season, ensured necessary contracts were in place with contractors, that salt and sand stores were full and that gullies and culverts were cleared. I met the national emergency co-ordination group in advance of this winter season to ensure that the plans were in place and that all sectors were prepared for the season ahead. I ensured a framework for the establishment of community support centres was put in place, along with a guidance document developed in conjunction with the local authority sector.”
“In terms of preparedness, following Storm Éowyn, my Department, through its national directorate for fire and emergency management, undertook a wide-ranging review of our national response and moved to implement a number of key recommendations. As part of this work we required all local authorities to submit their severe weather and flood plans. These plans were reviewed and a workshop took place to advise of best practice in relation to the development of these documents. Local authorities were tasked with reviewing and updating all plans as necessary and my Department will review these regularly going forward. This is essential and I will ensure it happens. It is not about how often we have storms or how severe they are; we must ramp up our readiness to respond to storms in the in-between times.”
“I experienced first-hand the severe flooding in my home county of Wexford and what this meant not just in the days of the storm but in the aftermath, and it is continuing. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated flooding incident to one community or county. Also impacted were family homes and business in areas such as Aughrim in County Wicklow, south Dublin, Passage East in County Waterford, Graiguenamanagh in County Kilkenny and many other parts of the country. My thoughts are very much with all those families and business who are badly and deeply affected as the clean-up process continues. We in the Government want to do everything we can to help as quickly as possible. There are two important points I especially want to cover this evening: the preparedness in advance of Storm Chandra and the response to the storm.”
“I understand that our local authorities and councils, which are our first responders when it comes to severe weather events, were aware and were keeping a watching brief of all rising rivers in the days before the arrival of Storm Chandra and were also monitoring river levels. The storm was named by the UK Met Office on Monday, 26 January 2026, and it was forecast to bring with it both high winds and heavy rain. The storm in and of itself would have been a manageable event. However, the storm was coupled with the already waterlogged and saturated ground and this brought with it the risk of river flooding along with flooding risk along floodplains, agricultural land and low-lying roads.”
“I want to take time to review the weather event itself and, in particular, the lead-up to the weather event because what was experienced in the towns and villages that were most impacted over the last few weeks comes not just from the storm. Over the month of January 2026, Ireland, and in particular the east of the country, experienced rainfall well over what is considered the expected monthly average. In the week preceding the storm, the east of the country experienced more than four times the average amount of rainfall that would normally be expected. This level of rainfall had serious ramifications before the storm event. The land itself was intensely waterlogged and saturated, with no capacity to contain the excess rain that was continuously falling.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach and Senators very much for the invitation to be with them to discuss Storm Chandra and the extended and severe flooding events that followed in many parts of the country and to outline the whole-of-government response to the storm. I will start off by clearly stating on behalf of the Government that I recognise the very significant and very real impacts the latest storm event had on so many families and businesses and the level of distress that was caused. I am particularly attuned to this because people in my own County Wexford are very much seeing the impact first-hand. Many people I know personally were affected, and it has taken a horrendous toll on people. It is very important at the very outset of the discussion that we recognise the human impact these storms have on people.”
“It is showing momentum with a significant increase in housing delivery. We have seen an increase in planning permissions in the third quarter and an increase in commencements in December of last year as well. We will deliver the homes people need in this country.”
“Increasing the supply of new homes is key to addressing many of the challenges in the housing market and rental sector. The Government is committed to delivering more homes, to doing it quickly and for more people. The programme for Government aims to ramp up the delivery of homes right across this country, to increase supply further and deliver another 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030. The rental sector will grow and this is an important part of that supply. We are determined to deliver the homes people need, whether that is one-off rural homes, whether it is in our villages, our towns or our cities and whether it is social, affordable, rental for purchase or private. We are determined to get those homes delivered right across the country. Our plan is already starting to show.”
“The Government has delivered a revised national planning framework, enabling the zoning of significantly more land. Apartment standards have been revised and the VAT rate on the sale of new completed apartments reduced. All of these measures make apartment building more viable and rental accommodation will come on stream. The Government will lead with record investment and strong direction, but the necessary housing can only be delivered at scale in partnership with local authorities, the LDA, approved housing bodies and the private sector. We will measure delivery and publish data, recording delivery by each of our partners. The housing crisis affects all of our society and the economy and we will continue to work with others to benefit everybody.”
“The fundamental difference from Housing for All is the greater emphasis in this plan on creating the environment for delivering more homes. This plan enables others, particularly the private sector, to play their part. A significantly greater supply of housing can be achieved through a balanced approach, focused on both directly supporting people to have a home of their own but also creating the best conditions possible for the industry to build more homes for people. Where necessary, the Government is also removing barriers in the legal and planning systems, regulation and procurement. We will free up the private sector to provide homes at much greater scale by providing more zoned and serviced land for housing right across the country.”
“The Government’s new plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030: An Action Plan on Housing Supply and Targeting Homelessness, was launched on 14 November 2025. Building on the foundations of Housing for All and informed by the work of the Housing Commission, this plan will empower the State, partners and the private sector to continue to play a critical part in delivery. This plan is being enabled by the largest ever capital investment in the history of the State, €275 billion over ten years, to significantly upgrade our infrastructure and make the environment for building homes much better. Direct funding for housing will also be at record levels. In 2026 alone, over €9 billion in capital funding will be provided through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and the Housing Finance Agency, HFA.”
“This marks the highest number of completions recorded in any given year since the CSO began recording this data series in 2011. Over the last five years, 148,995 new homes have been delivered. This compares with 83,267 in the previous five-year period from 2016 to 2020, and just 29,217 in the five years before that from 2011 to 2015. One key indicator of progress is the delivery of new apartments. Encouragingly, after a very significant drop-off in apartment delivery in 2024, the CSO figures show a 38.7% increase in the delivery of apartments in 2025 compared with 2024, with more than 12,000 apartments completed. This is the highest completions figure for apartments since the CSO began collating this dataset in 2011.”
“The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost-rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures, including rental. Increasing the supply of new homes is critical to alleviating pressures in the housing market, helping to moderate price growth and easing affordability challenges across the country. In this regard, supply has increased significantly over the last five years, with more than 161,300 new homes delivered since July 2020. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, New Dwelling Completions report for quarter 4 of 2025 shows that a total of 36,284 new dwellings were completed in 2025, representing a 20.4% increase on the same period in the previous year.”
“The RTB is working to ensure that process improvements continue to be implemented to ensure that disputes raised by landlords and tenants are dealt with promptly and efficiently and, more broadly, to ensure the effective regulation of the rental market. Exchequer funding allocation of €22.8 million for the RTB's operational services has been secured for 2026. This is a 70% increase on its initial 2025 allocation. This will enable the RTB to effectively manage increases in its demand-led services and additional remit as a result of the changes proposed in the Bill. The Bill should be viewed as having an important role in driving supply and as part of the Government's broad commitments and efforts to meet our housing demand.”
“We aim for tenancy protections that at their core are meaningful and fair. We know that introducing stronger tenancy protections will need more and better enforcement. Therefore, the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, commits to continuing its support for renters. This includes measures to protect renters and landlords from abusive practices by enhancing the enforcement powers of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. It is important for both landlords and tenants that disputes are resolved as early as possible and that parties to the dispute consider the process transparent and reflective of our rental law.”
“The resetting of rents to market rent will only be allowed in respect of a new tenancy created on or after 1 March 2026 but not after a no-fault eviction. Where such a new tenancy lasts for over six years, the landlord will be allowed to reset rent to market rent at the end of each six-year period. We do not want rents for long-term tenancies to fall behind market rents. The current rent pressure zone rent controls are out of kilter with international practice in this regard. Along with the ability to reset rents, the Bill will introduce enhanced tenancy protections for all new tenancies that begin on or after 1 March 2026. These changes will have a significant impact for our rental sector. There is a very fine balance to be struck. We aim to attract investment, but we know that both tenants and landlords deserve and need fair treatment.”
“Unless a no-fault eviction occurs, we will allow rents for new tenancies created on or after 1 March 2026 to be set at market value but in return for far greater security of tenure through tenancies of minimum duration of six years for most tenants. We will continue to restrict the annual rent increases in line with inflation but linked to the consumer price index, CPI, and retain the 2% cap. The Government recognises that rents are already too high. We simply need more rental accommodation, however, and in particular apartments, to tackle the high rents in this country by increasing supply. This is why we are allowing the rents for new apartments to be linked to the CPI, even when inflation exceeds 2%. Landlords will be allowed to reset rent for new tenancies and between future tenancies.”
“These showed the existing rules were restricting supply and potential policy options. There is also the agency’s preferred recommendation to modify the existing operation of the current rent controls. This followed comprehensive examination by the Housing Agency and stakeholder engagement. The approved policy measures aim to boost investment in the supply of homes available for rent and to keep existing landlords in the market. The changes agreed will also provide significantly stronger tenancy protections and are finely balanced between the interests of tenants and the need for further private investment in the rental market across the country, taking account of stakeholder engagement. A new national rent control will ensure that annual rent increases across the country will be capped at 2% or the rate of inflation.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." On 27 January 2026, the Government approved the publication of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. This Bill will amend the current system of rent controls significantly and provide new measures to protect tenants, including a no-fault eviction ban for larger landlords, reduced grounds for smaller landlords and stronger security of tenure. It will come into effect for new tenancies from 1 March 2026. We want to provide certainty, clarity and stability for the rental sector. Cabinet approved the introduction of amendments to rental controls to come into effect on 1 March 2026, immediately following the expiration of rent pressure zones. These decisions have been informed by the findings of the Housing Agency review of rent pressure zones.”
“Sometimes I think the Deputy selectively listens to what I am saying. I will repeat what I said in my first answer. Video scripts related to various aspects of the campaign were flagged to my Department prior to finalising and uploading the video online for only the purposes of fact checking current policies and schemes, as would be reasonable. I said that in my opening answer. The Deputy chose not to listen to it.”
“This was the Housing Agency that funded SpunOut, which choose the topics itself. SpunOut does a fantastic job. An official in the housing Department retweeted it. I am not going after that official. They were well intentioned and they thought they were doing the right thing. These things happen.”
“I thank the Deputy. I became aware when I saw the retweet the night before the committee meeting. That is the first time I became aware of it. Young people are interested in how we will solve the crisis, not going down the rabbit hole of who knew when a video may have had information contained in it or whatever the case may be. I do not really understand. My focus is maximising the number of homes and maximising supply so that we can get those people who are affected by the housing crisis into homes in which they want to live in their communities. That is what I am all about.”