The Minister for Housing James Browne will brief the Cabinet this morning on the long-awaited National Housing Plan which is to be entitled "Delivering Homes, Building Communities" and will be published tomorrow.
The strategy seeks to deliver 300,000 homes, including 90,000 starter homes, over the next five years.
It is understood that the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has agreed to provide €2.5 billion to the Land Development Agency (LDA) to deliver 14,000 homes by 2029.
The LDA was constituted to support more acquisition of private land to deliver private housing, and find additional strategic public land sites.
If approved by Cabinet, the new funding could be drawn down immediately, and would bring the total LDA budget up to €8.75 billion.
Minister Browne's National Housing Plan is expected to place a big focus on ending child and family homelessness, including a plan to inject more than €100 million next year to house families who are on the housing list the longest.
The plan, which is months overdue, is also expected to send out a signal of a stable policy landscape, and it is hoped this will contribute to increased private sector investment in homes and apartments.
It is anticipated that the Housing Plan will include much greater use of compulsory purchase orders by local authorities to deal with derelict properties.
Other expected commitments include a target that 20,000 homes will be brought back into use supported by the Vacant Refurbishment Grant, and an Expert Advice Grant to support bringing more homes and vacant shop spaces back into use as homes.
Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has warned that this plan "must be more ambitious" than its predecessor, particularly when it comes to increased funding, targets and delivery of social and affordable homes.
He called for greater protections for renters from rising rents and eviction, and what he called "clear, measurable targets to end long-term homelessness by 2030".
The Dublin Mid-West deputy said the Housing Plan needed to include a suite of activation measures for small and medium enterprise builders/developers to deliver homes for workers to buy.
He said there also had to be increased staffing for both planning authorities and planning courts in order to speed-up decisions and judgements.
Cabinet will also receive a series of updates from line Ministers about issues under their responsibility.
The Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon will update Cabinet on the recent outbreaks of Avian Flu and the efforts to support poultry farmers.
The Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will outline to Ministers the report for Urgent and Emergency Care, which shows an 8% reduction in 8am trolley figures.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris, will brief Government on the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada.
The Tánaiste will also provide an update on Ireland’s participation at the G20, as the Taoiseach prepares to travel for the leaders summit in South Africa later this month.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan will seek Cabinet approval to draft the legislation of a Gigabit Infrastructure Bill, which aims to make broadband faster, cheaper and more effective.
MetroLink
The Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien will seek Cabinet approval to create a new body charged with delivering Dublin's MetroLink project.
The procedural move comes ahead of the preparation of what is termed a "General Scheme of a Bill" which will establish it.
It is expected that the Minister will return to Government for approval of the legislation early next year.
MetroLink is scheduled to be one Ireland’s biggest infrastructure projects.
The Metrolink plan consists of a new 18.8km railway line, most of which will be underground, from Charlemont near Dublin city centre to Swords Estuary in the north of the county.
The Taoiseach said in September that the MetroLink budget will be watched closely, and the expectation is that the project will be delivered on time and within budget.
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
The Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke, will bring a memo to Cabinet today to strengthen the consumer watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
It is understood the additional powers to be conveyed to be CCPC means it will be able to apply stronger penalties for competition law breaches.
In particular, the memorandum specifies there will be new tools for the Commission to help it tackle bid-rigging.
Census
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin will ask the Cabinet to agree that Sunday 9 May 2027 is the date for the next Census.
A census has generally taken place every five years since 1946.
They were traditionally held when years ended in a 1 and 6, but the COVID pandemic saw the last Census take place in 2022 instead.
The Census will have an online form option, and will now count where people are normally resident, rather than where they are on Census night.
The Central Statistics Office held a public consultation on the content of this upcoming Census in late 2022, and an online pilot survey was carried out.
A time capsule option will be included again, where respondents can leave a personal message for future research.
The Taoiseach is bringing the proposal on behalf of Minister Mary Butler.
De Chastelain Scholarship Programme
The Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless will seek Cabinet approval for a financial contribution towards the establishment of the De Chastelain Scholarship Programme, for 2025 to 2029.
The proposal has been made by the Ireland-Canada University Foundation and is to be jointly funded by the Irish and Canadian Governments.
From November 1995, Canadian officer John de Chastelain was involved in the Northern Ireland peace process.
From 1997 to 2011, he served as the Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, a body charged with ensuring paramilitaries in Northern Ireland put their weapons beyond use.
The new scholarship programme will be open to applicants from all disciplines and proposals must contribute meaningfully to themes of peace and reconciliation, specifically achieving peace and sustaining peace.
The Canadian government has committed the equivalent of €400,000 to run the programme for a four-year period, contingent on matching funding from the Irish Government.
The programme will run from 2026 and support a total of 28 scholars.
