429. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a report on the work of the Housing Activation Office since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53480/26]

The Housing Activation Office (HAO) has been operational for over a year and is coordinating and accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure required to unlock housing on sites nationwide.

The office works with a range of key stakeholders to identify and resolve infrastructure constraints, align investment and progress infrastructure projects that unlock housing. This includes ongoing regular engagement with the 31 local authorities, infrastructure agencies and industry.

In November 2025, I convened a Housing Activation Delivery Group comprising senior leaders from Government Departments and infrastructure agencies to support the work of the Housing Activation Office and strengthen coordination.  I also convened a Housing Activation Industry Group to ensure close coordination with industry representative bodies so that the momentum across infrastructure and housing delivery is maintained.  These groups continue to meet on a quarterly basis, and last met on July 1st 2026.

On 21 January 2026, the Government launched a new multiannual €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund to support direct investment in housing enabling infrastructure.  The fund is managed by the Housing Activation Office in my Department.

The core objective of the HIIF is to unblock infrastructure constraints and activate lands that are identified for housing development.  By investing directly in transport, water, electricity and other enabling infrastructure, the fund will ensure that land is properly serviced and ready to deliver homes.

Call 1 of the HIIF opened for applications from local authorities and the Land development Agency (LDA) on 21 January 2026 and closed on Friday 27 February 2026.  A total of 138 applications were received under Call 1 from 30 Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency. Following a detailed assessment process led by the Housing Activation Office, 82 projects have been approved for inclusion in the HIIF programme under Call 1.

A full list of projects accepted to the HIIF programme has been published and is available at: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/9d47d273/Housing_Infrastructure_Investment_Fund_Call_1_-_List_of_Projects.pdf

The HAO team will work directly with local authorities and the Land Development Agency to progress the projects and will also work with critical utilities such as Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks to ensure complementary investment in water and energy in tandem with the delivery of the 82 projects.

The HAO will continue to develop the HIIF and intends to broaden its scope to include a wider range of public and private sector delivery partners. The primary aim is to build a rolling programme of investment that addresses obstacles to the delivery of housing.

The initial focus of the HAO has been on local activation, and the focus will now broaden to include a more strategic phase of work.  This includes the identification of larger and more transformative infrastructure investments that are required to support housing delivery at scale.