Over the past week or so the Tánaiste has been very critical of county councils which he said think they have "done enough" on housing. He said, “There’s too much sluggishness in parts of the system, in terms of zoning land." Laois cannot be counted as one of them if one looks at what it has done on zoning this week. It has exceeded the Department of housing's targets. We need more affordable and social housing and cost rental but it has gone well past the targets. On zoning, this week Laois zoned lands on top of what is already zoned for an additional 8,200 homes. That is a population increase of between 25,000 and 30,000 in a county with about 95,000 of a population at the moment. It is in the top three highest population increases in the State. This was demanded by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Government. I have no problem with it but the facts are we do not have the infrastructure in the county. The funding allocation this year under the national development plan announced earlier for roads was zero. Cash is required. We need a new primary school in Portlaoise, Coláiste Dhún Másc secondary school needs to be fast-tracked, Coláiste Íosagáin, Portarlington, needs to be built and Saplings Special School in Graiguecullen is dependent on the goodwill of strangers apparently. The N80 bypass in Mountmellick is long promised; the Tánaiste saw it himself when he was there a year and a half ago. It is urgently needed from Fairgreen to Kilminchy roundabout. The N80 goes through a highly populated area and HGVs hit the rail bridge and are chugging along through the market square. The whole place is choked up. Three of the very large land banks zoned this week are on the path of the Portlaoise northern orbital route which is there since my time on the council and before that.

That needs to be constructed. There is a critical shortage of wastewater infrastructure in some of the towns and villages that have been earmarked: Borris-in-Ossory with 160 homes; Ballybrittas with 114 homes; Ballinakill with 58 homes; and Graiguecullen with 437. All of them need wastewater infrastructure upgrades or network connections. A primary care centre is needed in Portlaoise. That needs to be built. Laois County Council has provided whatever infrastructure and facilities it can with the limited resources it has. Any of the Ministers who have been down - including the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, who did not invite me when he was coming but came and sneaked in even though he was only about a quarter of a mile from me - will have seen what is being delivered in Laois. The chief executive officer of the council and the councillors are saying they have done their bit, will do more when they get the money and will come up with whatever money they can as well, but the funds have to be provided for those projects. Will the Tánaiste get the chequebook out and make sure that we get those pieces of infrastructure, including roads, wastewater facilities, schools, a primary care centre and sports facilities, that are needed in the county?

I thank Deputy Stanley. Firstly can I say, because fair is fair, that Laois is a good performer when it comes to housing. I have my sheet here. There is nowhere to hide here, by the way. The data is there. It shows who is doing a good job and who is not doing a good job. Laois has actually done quite a good job in relation to dereliction. I think there were 13 derelict sites levied during the year 2024. Laois has performed pretty well when it comes to housing delivery. It has done very well on the housing delivery targets and in relation to zoning. I acknowledge that and I thank the county council for its work in relation to that.

I am told by my colleague and friend Deputy Aird that this week Laois did receive good news in relation to funding, I believe it is €10 million, for the new road in Portlaoise. I think it was successful in two projects in relation to the housing activation and infrastructure office as well. The Government is doing its part. One of the reasons we set up the housing activation office - Deputy Stanley does have a valid point in relation to this - is that infrastructure is a key enabler for housing, 100%. That is why this week we allocated more than €800 million in funding to projects right across the country. We intend to build on that. The Deputy might that remember call 1, which is the round we have just given out, was only open to local authorities to apply for funding. In the future I think we will look at going beyond local authorities to give opportunities for partnership with private industry and with developers as well.

The Deputy mentioned sports clubs. The sports capital funding will be opening very shortly and I expect clubs in the Deputy's own county and right across the country will benefit. The Governmental will receive an update on that this month. That is important too.

We have a lot of funding. The Deputy said to get the chequebook out. We have a lot of funding allocated in relation to infrastructure. We intend as a Government to spend €275 billion on infrastructure between now and 2035. One of the collective challenges that central government and local government will have is speeding up delivery. This is why getting the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas before the summer recess is a key enabler of delivering on some of those projects.

Schools are a real issue, 100%, and I know there are a lot of pressure points, particularly in high-demand population areas. There will be further allocations in relation to school funding from a capital point of view in the time ahead. The list that has been published is not the final word on the matter. There will be a need to do more and the medium-term fiscal plan the Government has published has unallocated capital that we will be able to return to again. I hope education can benefit from that.

I push back slightly when I hear this idea that the councils are willing to build a few more houses if we are willing to give them A, B or C. It is not that. It is not binary. There is a housing emergency and everybody has a responsibility to do everything they can to build homes so our young people can get out of the box rooms and into their own homes. It is not the case that they will do it, but they will only do it if they are given us this. They need to do it. They need to do their job. It is a national emergency and they should get on with it. However, they will find in partnership a Government willing to work to put in place that key infrastructure to make sure we do not just build homes but also build sustainable communities.

I have to say to the Tánaiste that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, the Minister, Deputy Browne, the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, have all been in the constituency. It is kind of like an election year, but it is good to see them all down there. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, was the only one who did not tell me he was coming.

Yes, funding has been allocated and that is fair enough, but the roundabout the Tánaiste is talking about that one of those is earmarked for is nearly built. I passed it very early this morning on my way here. There are big projects. The Portlaoise northern orbital route, PNOR, and the N80 in Mountmellick are key. The Uisce Éireann scheme for small towns and villages needs to be delivered on. We need to see that happen. We cannot increase the population of the county by 25%, 26%, or 27% without putting in extra infrastructure, and that is on top of what is already zoned. I appeal to the Tánaiste to go back and look again at this.

On the cost of housing, I heard the debate the other night with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and Deputy Sheehan from the Labour Party. Back a number of years ago when Fine Gael and the Labour Party were in government, the Kenny report came out. Mr. Justice Kenny was not a member of the revolutionary Marxist party of Ireland or the Maoist Shining Path revolution.

I ask Deputy Stanley to conclude.

He was a conservative man but he came up with a very practical solution regarding the cost of land.

Tánaiste-----

The cost of land is one of the things driving up the cost of housing. The Government needs to go back again and look at this.

I think my friends in the Labour Party are suggesting they were not in government then.

That report came out in 1973, so neither of us were born then.

Yes. Neither Ged nor I were born so we cannot be held responsible for that one.

It is good report though.

There are a couple of serious points there. This is the first time I have ever been in this House while somebody seems to be bemoaning so many Ministers coming to Laois. Deputy Stanley obviously has not met Deputy Willie Aird. It is easier to go to Laois and try to deliver. We intend to continue to visit. Deputy Stanley is right that there is no election for quite a number of years, be assured of that, but there is a hell of a lot of work to do. We intend to be out and about on the ground in communities, including the Deputy's good county of Laois, working with communities and trying to deliver. We are delivering. We are delivering a lot when it comes to infrastructure. There were two announcements of projects this week for Laois through the housing activation office. Every €3 we are going to spend on capital over the next number of years is going to be spent on housing or infrastructure to enable the delivery of housing. That is an important thing to say.

I want to acknowledge that there is good partnership. I get a bit spiky every now and again when there are different parts of the system that needs to do more. I think that is part of our job. In general there is good partnership between the Government, local government, approved housing bodies, the LDA, and bringing in Uisce Éireann and the ESB. Everybody has to work together if we are to rectify these issues.

I take the point that Deputy Stanley makes about water and the like. The change we have made to allow developer-led infrastructure in smaller communities will make a difference in County Laois, as will the rural planning guidelines, which I expect to go to Cabinet next week.