Séamus McGrath
Cork South-Central · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I thank the Taoiseach for the update about the Cork city futures group. As he mentioned, transport is a key theme within that reference. As the Taoiseach probably knows, I have been calling for a strategic integrated transportation office to be established in Cork.”
“To do that, we need local decision-making in a powerful transportation office established in Cork which can engage with the relevant stakeholders at a local level. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, seems positive about this idea. I ask the Taoiseach to try to support it. I am sure he would, given that it is Cork.”
“Budget preparations will be intensifying over the summer period. With that in mind, I want to take this opportunity to raise the issue of stamp duty and first-time buyers. As the Taoiseach knows, first-time buyers have to pay 1% in stamp duty when they are purchasing a new or second-hand home.”
“When I raised this matter as a Topical Issue just over six months ago in December 2025, the reply at the time was very much focused on the fact that there was an issue with the site. I reiterate that there is absolutely no issue with the site.”
“I do not want to be disingenuous, and I hope work is progressing on the tender process, but the reply seems to be the exact same, which is very frustrating. To reiterate, the project is vital for these two school communities. The conditions they operate in at present are not acceptable. It has been promised for many years.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue debate. I want to raise the matter of the proposed amalgamation of two schools in the lower harbour area of Cork. These are Ringaskiddy national school and Shanbally National School.”
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“I thank the Minister for being here. I raise the issue of section 254 licence applications, under the Planning and Development Act 2000, which permits the installation of telecommunications masts in communities. I believe this is a fundamentally flawed process and I will explain that in a moment. Of course, we need to improve our telecommunications infrastructure. There is no doubt about that. However, we need to do so in a sustainable manner and one which does not adversely affect our communities. The section 254 application process is a secretive process. It is non-transparent. There is no statutory obligation on the applicant to publish a site notice, for example, to let a community know that such an application is being made.”
“Suggesting that they should call 999 to contact An Garda Síochána is not acceptable and it is removing gardaí from front-line policing and dealing with the community face to face. I ask the Minister to redouble his efforts in consultation with the Garda Commissioner to ensure that our Garda stations are open better and more reliable hours for the public.”
“I raise the importance of having our Garda stations across the country open and accessible to the public. I acknowledge the outstanding work the Minister is doing in relation to garda recruitment and retention. Increasing garda visibility is critically important but so is access to Garda stations across our communities. I represent Cork South-Central, as the Minister knows, and the only Garda station in that five-seat constituency that is open reliable hours is the district headquarters in Togher. I know he visited there recently. We have urban areas with Garda stations located in them, but they are not open in a reliable way to the public. I think the Minister will agree that members of the public want to be able to walk into a Garda station, meet a garda, raise an issue with them and discuss a local issue of concern with them.”
“On the theme of sustaining the economy, I raise the need for an updated support strategy for retailers across this country on our main streets, high streets and towns and villages. We want our towns, villages and cities to be vibrant, busy and attractive places but many retailers are under severe pressure, whether it is due to the increased cost of doing business, the ongoing challenge of online shopping, or, of course, changing consumer habits. They need support and while the Government has invested in things like town and village renewal, the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and so on, a specific, focused strategy needs to be put in place to support our retailers, or I fear that many of our towns and villages will be hollowed out and will become places with increased vacancy, dereliction and so on.”
“This would also be a key focus. I welcome the Taoiseach's update and ask him to give us an indication of when he hopes this group will be formally established.”
“I know the Taoiseach is familiar with the Cork city issue. His Department and the Government have had significant contact with Cork City Council and others in relation to the establishment of this group. I understand it may not be called a task force and that is fine. What we want is a group of organisations and individuals in Cork with the sole purpose of trying to improve Cork as a place to live, work, do business and visit. There are critical themes. We need to invest in our public spaces and streetscape in the city, address issues with vacancy, and continue to ensure we have a proper transportation system which can focus on issues such as BusConnects, Cork Luas and improving connectivity to our airport, which is an ongoing issue. There has been a recent increase in Garda visibility in Cork and that is welcome.”
“The three housing grants administered by local authorities are very effective. They need to be reformed in general but specifically the older person's grant does, which the Taoiseach will be aware, allows for works such as roof repair, heating repairs, windows and doors and so on. There is a minimum age requirement of 66 years of age. There is discretion at local authority level to go below that age in hardship cases. We need to look at and formalise that. For example, someone who is 59 years of age on a long-term disability payment might need to get a roof repair carried out. It is not acceptable that is at the discretion of the local authority. The grants need to be formalised in this respect and we need to provide for people on such long-term payments so the age needs to be looked at in the grants.”
“I welcome that and I urge the Minister of State to redouble his efforts to bring about these reforms as soon as possible so the grants are accessible to households and so we subsidise and welcome any improvement to the energy efficiency of homes.”
“I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister of State for his response. As I said earlier, the importance of reducing energy consumption for domestic households is critical, for carbon achievements and to reduce costs for households and our dependence on international energy importation. That is also an important part. Therefore, I welcome the reforms the Minister of State announced that are in the pipeline for these home energy grants. They need to be less rigid and become more accessible and the requirement for full-blown upgrades needs to be changed. It is critical that any improvement to home energy efficiency should be welcomed. We should not be putting unnecessary requirements, conditions and criteria in place, which can prevent people from accessing these grants.”
“They are all very important but especially with windows and doors, which are critical parts of reducing energy consumption in a household, the grants need to be looked at so there is not a requirement for a full-blown energy upgrade to avail of them.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response. I think we all agree reducing energy consumption at home is a critically important part of reducing our overall carbon output as a nation and of course reducing the costs for households of their energy use. Many households find the grants to be quite rigid and it is a case of perfection being the enemy of the good. For example, if a household wants to upgrade their windows and doors they have to undertake a full energy upgrade under the one-stop shop system. That can be very inaccessible for many households due to the cost involved, so I ask these grants be reformed in such a way they become more accessible and user friendly. I welcome the measures announced in the simplified process, a reduce loan cost and so on.”
“We want these grants to be processed in a timely manner so that we can get on with utilising this currently under-occupied space. The resourcing of local authorities is important and I ask the Taoiseach to look at that.”
“I thank the Taoiseach. I welcome today's announcement in relation to the vacant property refurbishment grant and the extension of this grant until 2030. This provides important certainty from a policy point of view in relation to vacant properties. We know they are still a very significant challenge. I also welcome the new initiative in relation to the above the shop grant. Up to €140,000, where multiple properties are involved, is potentially available. That is very significant and the fact that it will be available by quarter 1 of the new year is very important. It is important to look at the local authorities and their resourcing in terms of being able to deal with this grant. I ask the Taoiseach to also look at that.”
“Central to a good infrastructure system is a good public transport system. I welcome the approval of BusConnects Cork by Cabinet to proceed to the planning phase. That is very welcome but we cannot wait years for improvements to the local bus service. I am sure the Taoiseach, like other public representatives in Cork, is inundated with unreliability issues relating to local bus services, such as buses not turning up, disappearing buses and inaccurate information on the travel app. It is simply not good enough and it has been going on for years. People are tired of excuses from the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann. I ask the Taoiseach to please take this issue up and look for immediate improvements.”
“I visited the schools and saw first hand the conditions and they really are not acceptable. I ask the Minister of State to relay that to the Minister and to stress the urgency of this particular project.”
“It does not give me a lot to go back to the school community, parents or principal and teachers with, in relation to the timeline. If there is any additional information, I would be very grateful for it. I note the appointment of the project manager and the preparation of the documentation for the tender process but at the same time, this school amalgamation process has been in the pipeline for so long that we do need some credible timelines at this stage, especially because the current conditions are so unsuitable. The facilities where the pupils are receiving their education are not fit for purpose. Despite the conditions, both schools are providing an education to the highest standard but they are really up against it in terms of the environment in which they operate.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I appreciate the response. As the Minister of State said, this is to be a new 16-classroom primary school with four classrooms for children with special education needs. This facility is so badly needed in the local community and the constituency that I represent. My main reason for submitting this Topical Issue matter was to get a status update. I appreciate that the Minister of State has provided an update in relation to the project manager being appointed in the third quarter of 2023 who is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of the integrated project teams for the phase 2 bundle of projects. While I appreciate the reply, it is lacking in clarity in relation to the timeline.”
“The principals and teachers in Ringaskiddy and Shanbally national schools are doing their level best to provide good levels of education. They are also doing their best with regard to special education and are certainly playing their part in providing places for students with additional needs. They need the school building programme to progress quickly and for this school project to be on a proper trajectory towards the delivery of a new school building. I hope the Minister's response can give some hope to the communities, teachers, pupils and parents locally that the school building project will progress and they will see credible and substantive progress in the near future.”
“Unfortunately, the site had to be acquired for the development of the M28 motorway. That was one setback. A new site was identified and is fully in place. Everything is now ready to go in terms of developing the new schools. Given the issues I outlined earlier with the condition of the buildings, the principals of the schools have had to fight tooth and nail is to get emergency funding to carry out works. They have been put through the wringer in trying to get funding to carry out works for roof repairs and to address dampness and other safety issues in school buildings. It is simply not good enough in this day and age that such a number of children are being educated in these facilities. To be fair, the children receive a good standard of education.”
“Many of the prefabs are over ten years old and are in an appalling condition. I witnessed it myself. Floors are collapsing and ceilings are bulging with dampness. There are health and safety issues, in that ceilings could collapse on students. There is dampness and mould. I could go on. There are significant issues with electrical trip switches, which are tripping because of the dampness in the school. There is a chronic need to develop the new school so that the students can get out of these older and dilapidated buildings. As I said, despite the time involved, the project is at the earliest stage of the school building programme. There is deep frustration locally about the slowness of the process. This has been a long running process. A site was identified a number of years ago.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. I want to raise the issue of the proposed amalgamation of Shanbally and Ringaskiddy national schools in County Cork. They are two existing schools in older buildings. Ringaskiddy has a school population of approximately 60 students and Shanbally is larger with approximately 199 students. The proposed amalgamation has been on the cards for a decade and a half at this stage. Unfortunately, despite this long time it is at the earliest possible stage, namely pre-stage 1 of the school building programme. There are emergency needs in these schools. I have had the good fortune of being able to visit these schools in my time. I most recently visited Shanbally, the larger of the two schools. Of the nine classrooms in the school, six are prefabs.”
“There are specific actions in this plan to try to address this issue of homelessness. Critically, for me, this is about ensuring we have a proper housing supply, that the 15,000 starter homes are delivered through this plan, which is critically important so people have the option of securing home ownership, and that the schemes are there to assist them.”
“The reforms of the city and county development plans are also very important so we will have additional zoned land and sufficient headroom in this regard. As we know, not all zoned land is developed, so we need sufficient headroom there. The new, updated development plans will allow for that. We must, of course, ensure we have compact growth in our urban areas so we maximise the services we have available. Tackling vacancy and dereliction is also a very significant part of this and there are key measures in it to provide additional incentives. Equally, if actions are not being taken, a property tax will be established through the Revenue, which is also very important. The real test of this plan will be reducing homelessness in this country, which we know is very significant.”
“This will provide critical investment in water, wastewater, energy, key infrastructural requirements and, of course, housing itself. As we have seen today and this week in relation to the accelerating infrastructure task force and the recommendations within that in terms of trying to speed up the delivery of key infrastructural projects, I think that will work in tandem with this plan so we can have a very solid foundation for home building in future. The €9 billion of Exchequer funding being provided in 2026 for homes in this country through the Land Development Agency and the Housing Finance Agency is very significant. As I said, the planning reforms are very important so that we have faster decisions and consistency across the country in terms of decisions.”
“It is building on the announcements already made by this Minister and this Government in recent months, such as extending planning permissions that were about to expire, resourcing the planning system so we get faster and more efficient planning decisions, resourcing the Land Development Agency, and we know there is an additional €2.5 billion, which is significant funding, simplifying the approval processes in the Department so we have faster decisions in terms of housing approvals and, of course, the Housing Activation Office working actively with the 31 local authorities in helping to deliver homes. These are critical measures and this plan will build on that. It provides record funding through the revised national development plan, with €102 billion between now and 2030.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Government's housing plan, delivering homes, building communities. I thank the Minister for his opening remarks. As has been said, this is a very ambitious plan. We know the overall target is 300,000 houses between now and 2030, with 12,000 social homes and 15,000 starter homes. These are critically important. This is a plan of substance and actions. There are up to 80 actions in this plan. No single action will deliver what we want, but if we combine them all together, it will result in significant action in my opinion.”
“I strongly believe the construction sector is onboard for modern methods of construction. It recognises the advantages, cost savings and that it can deliver with greater efficiency, which is critically important. It is also important the Government is leading in this way in the provision in the plan for 25% of social and affordable units to be delivered through MMC. That message is very important. Indeed, other measures such as build to innovate by the Department of enterprise is also very important to help promote MMC. It is a sector that will continue to grow in this country. It can provide employment opportunities and use more sustainable materials as part of that, which is critically important from an environmental point of view, as well as delivering homes in a more speedy and efficient manner.”
“I totally agree that this has the potential to be a more environmental form of construction and increase sustainability but also provide new employment opportunities for individuals as well in the area of modern methods of construction. Furthermore, it does, of course, help us weatherproof some of the delivery in terms of construction so that it can move apace during the winter months, which is one of the key advantages of MMC.”
“I welcome the strong recognition for modern methods of construction in the new housing plan. That is critically important. The construction sector is very much up for embracing MMC and the additional measures in the plan to incentivise the construction industry to take up those measures are critically important. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will know a development in his constituency, Longview in Ballyvolane, where the developers are very much embracing both on-site and off-site modern methods of construction and really delivering quickly in terms of the turnaround time for new houses. That is important and it was a site the Taoiseach visited recently to see first-hand the progress that has been made there.”
“Will the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage outline the key measures to increase the use of modern methods of construction under Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 and make a statement on the matter?”
“I think the emphasis on new builds is welcome across the House. I particularly welcome the emphasis on local authorities and indeed the approved housing bodies directly building social homes, which is critically important. Of course, to achieve the targets we need a combined approach. There will also need to be continuation of turnkey and, of course, the delivery of social housing through the Part V provision is also important. They all deliver homes for families and individuals across the country. All these measures combined are welcome and it is important that we maintain a sustained focus to ensure that we get delivery and that we achieve the overall ambition within the plan to deliver social housing targets and, of course, ultimately reduce the homelessness that there is in this country at present.”
“Of course, the standardisation of design is critically important to make the delivery of social housing more efficient. I will be touching modern methods of construction in a further question, but it is welcome to see that also included in the delivery of social housing because we have to embrace that technology.”
“I particularly welcome the overall target in the housing plan of 12,000 social units per annum, building on the progress made on the Housing for All plan, which, it must be acknowledged, made significant progress in the area of social housing. There are new initiatives in this plan to help deliver social housing such as the performance fund for local authorities, which is critical. Many local authorities do a great job but others not so. It is important that recognition is given to those that do a good job. Having ring-fenced teams is also critically important. The revision of the land acquisition fund is very significant because that is a particular issue across the country in terms of local authorities having a land bank available to them for the development of social housing.”
“The overall starter home package in the new plan is very welcome, but we have to refine some of the schemes to ensure they allow the vast majority of first-time buyers to qualify because that is, I know, the intention of the Government.”
“I appreciate this is a complex matter, and I know the last thing the Government wants to do is have schemes in place that will only lead to further price inflation. That is obviously a huge concern, and the Minister has to balance those concerns. For me, the reality is, as I said, that many first-time buyers are no longer able to avail of these schemes simply because of those qualifying criteria, particularly around the house value and the ceiling that is in place in relation to affordable purchase. I know this is on the Minister's radar. That needs to be reviewed as well in terms of the income qualification criteria. It is quite complicated and it needs to be simplified. Again, I know he is aware of that.”
“Equally, the price ceiling in relation to the first home scheme is actually less. In Cork, for example, in Cork city it is €475,000 and in Cork county it is €450,000. Again, many first-time buyers find themselves outside this. It needs to be looked at, and I would appreciate if the Minister could look at this as a matter of urgency.”
“I appreciate the Minister's answer and the measures in the housing plan that will be there to support first-time buyers, in particular the 15,000 starter homes per annum, which will include affordable purchase, first home scheme properties, help to buy and the vacant refurbishment grant. They are all very welcome. The point I really want to drive home - I know the Minister is aware of this and is looking at it - is that the qualifying criteria at the moment mean that many first-time buyers are falling outside of them. Under the help-to-buy scheme, which I appreciate is a Department of Finance scheme, the price ceiling for a property is €500,000. In many areas of the country now, first-time buyers find themselves not able to secure a new property for €500,000, so the help-to-buy scheme is no longer available to them.”
“I ask the Minister to outline the key measures he will be undertaking to support first-time buyers under the delivering homes, delivering communities plan. In particular, does the Minister intend to review the terms and qualifying criteria of existing schemes and will he make a statement on the matter? I hope he appreciates -I know he does - that many first-time buyers find themselves falling outside the criteria at present. This certainly needs to be reviewed so I welcome his answer.”
“I appreciate it is an important part of the process but I strongly suggest that verification should be done by an email system. It would be more efficient, transparent and speedy. I ask the Tánaiste, as the Minister for foreign affairs, to please take this issue up with the Passport Office and try to introduce this change. I raised this issue previously under a Topical Issue matter a number of months ago. I just want to try to continue to highlight the issue because I think we can avoid the level of stress and frustration brought on families when they have a travel date pending.”
“The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will appreciate the great work done by the Passport Office. I wish to raise a specific issue with him in regard to that office. When a family has travel plans made, has a date booked and is waiting on a new passport for a child, great stress can be brought on that family when that passport application is returned. Very often this is close to the issuing date because the Passport Office has failed to secure verification of the Garda witness. As the Tánaiste may know, the Passport Office now telephones the Garda station. If it does not get through on three occasions, the office will return the application to the family, resulting in huge frustration and stress. I put it to the Tánaiste that there is a more efficient way of doing this verification.”
“I know the Tánaiste values the importance of front-line policing. It is very welcome that An Garda Síochána conducted two recruitment campaigns this year and that the budget for 2026 set aside funding for the recruitment of 1,000 gardaí. Cork city has been under-resourced for many years, due to disproportionately low allocations. Our Garda units serving on the ground are stretched beyond what they can achieve in terms of work. Our Garda stations are inaccessible - they are simply not open. Will the Tánaiste please convey the message back that there will be another class emerging from Templemore in November and Cork city needs a fair and proportionate allocation of those gardaí?”
“I commend Cork City Council and Cork Business Association on their initiative of introducing wardens to the city centre recently. It was welcome. I hope the Taoiseach will give an update on when the Cork city task force will move on.”
“I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. He mentioned the importance of investing in the future. Critical to that is investment in our city centres. Will he give an update on the task force for Cork city? The programme for Government states that the model applied to the Dublin city task force will also be applied to Cork and will happen shortly. I hope this task force will deal with such strategic issues as improved transportation connectivity to Cork city, addressing issues around dereliction, vacancy and under-utilisation of buildings, investment in our public realm or streetscape, making the city a more attractive place to be and, critically from a day-to-day point of view, safety in our city centre and improved visibility of gardaí.”
“Between now and 2030, over €102 billion will be allocated on the infrastructural front. The budget is heavily focused on capital expenditure, trying to secure our future and trying to put our economy on a sustainable footing going forward so that we can address our most pressing issue, which, as we all agree in this House, is the housing shortage. It is something that we have to do, and use every lever within our power to try to ensure that we make progress on that on a daily basis. I commend this important Bill. I welcome the fact that it is before us here this evening. I welcome the opportunity to say a few words in relation to it. As I said earlier, this is only an interim measure. The borrowing limit will need to increase in the near future which is a great reflection on the amount of activity that is taking place.”
“It is a very ambitious plan. It is focusing heavily on housing and that is right and proper. In terms of trying to stimulate housing activity, much of the capital investment will be in areas that are designed to help boost housing supply effectively such as investment in the energy grid, water, and wastewater services, which are critical, transportation linkages and connectivity, which is also vitally important, public transport, active travel links, etc. It is very much focused on delivering additional housing and that is how it should be. With over €275 billion to be allocated between now and 2035 under the revised national development plan, it is very much with a view to getting housing delivered much sooner. Of course, we have record investment in housing itself, which is also very significant.”
“Not only would this help with the housing crisis; it would also help in improving the public realm in our towns and villages by removing vacancy and dereliction. There are so many benefits to focus on. From an environmental point of view, restoring an older property where there are currently services and infrastructure in place makes eminent senses so we really have to try and focus on this in every way possible. I welcome the derelict property tax that was introduced in the budget. I am disappointed that it seems to be taking a long time for it to get implemented. I hope there could be greater urgency on that and that is something that the Government can examine as it is progressing because we have to apply as much urgency as possible to the vacancy issue across the country. Finally, I want to mention the national development plan.”
“There is still a lot more scope and a lot more work that can be done on vacant and derelict housing across the country. We have a carrot in place in the form of the vacant homes grant. That has been used significantly, with over 10,000 approvals since its inception. They are over 10,000 properties that have been previously vacant for more than two years and they are now being brought back into use. That is very welcome, but we need to do more on that because there is a significant number of vacant properties. Various figures are put out but we know it is a large number. We have to do everything within our power to bring as many of them back into use as possible. We need an all-out campaign on vacant and derelict properties in our towns and villages.”
“In other cases, however, it is because their borrowing capacity does not allow them to secure a mortgage that will allow them purchase a home under an affordable housing scheme. There is a growing gap and the cohort affected is increasing in number. As a Government, we have to try to address that because we cannot leave a large cohort of people behind us. That is something I will strongly urge Government to focus on increasingly over the coming months, particularly as part of the new housing plan. This funding that we are approving here in terms of the statutory borrowing limit relates to new properties and new builds, and that is critically important. As Deputy Lawless mentioned earlier, however, the vacancy issue across this country is quite significant.”
“We have to use all levers at our disposal and we have to try to increase housing supply across the board in every way. I want to focus on affordable purchase housing because I have strongly tried to argue for it since I was elected. There is growing cohort of people who are falling between the stools in terms of the various supports offered from the State. If individuals or families who do not qualify for social housing, many of them are not also in a position to benefit from the affordable housing scheme. It is critically important that we bring as many of those into the net as possible. In some cases, it is because there simply is not enough affordable housing made available and that is an issue across the country.”
“It is our job in government to try to ensure we can increase that capacity and increase their output on State land, land they require to build and so on. Funding is being made available for the acquisition of that land as well, which is critically important. I had a conversation recently with one of my own local authorities and a new initiative is being undertaken relating to stage payments being made available so that developments can get under way. This will be to a private developer, but ultimately, stage payments are being made available for public housing and that helps with the financial issues that many developers are facing. We have to have a range of solutions. We all want to increase public housing. That is critically important but nobody can tell us that alone will solve the housing situation.”