1599. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the rationale for maintaining the first home scheme property price ceiling for County Kildare at €475,000; the data used in the most recent review of the ceiling; the proportion of new-build homes in County Kildare that exceed this threshold; whether an increase in the ceiling for Kildare is under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54920/26]

1628. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of applicants approved and supported under the first home scheme for County Cork in 2025 and 2026 to date; the average equity share provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55608/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1599 and 1628 together.

The First Home Scheme supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market, or building their own home, through the use of an equity share model, within price ceilings established across the country. The Scheme is overseen and managed by the First Home Scheme Ireland Designated Activity Company (DAC), on behalf of the shareholders, which are the State and participating mortgage lenders AIB, BOI, and PTSB.

The DAC is responsible for collating and issuing statistical information as it pertains to the Scheme. To Q2 2026, the Scheme has approved a total of 1,891 eligible applicants to purchase their homes in Cork (728 in Cork City and 1163 in Cork County), of which just under half have drawn down the approved loans (305 in Cork City, and 611 in Cork County). The average value of the equity support received by each buyer is €66,792. Information on First Home Scheme delivery by local authorities and the average equity share can be found on the FHS website at: Quarterly Updates https://www.firsthomescheme.ie/about-the-company/quarterly-updates/

The DAC is fully responsible for the operation of the scheme on behalf of all shareholders . At its launch, the First Home Scheme DAC announced it would review all price ceilings at 6-month intervals, taking into account a range of factors, including the median price and volume of new builds purchased by first time buyers in each local authority area.

At the end of June 2026, the First Home Scheme DAC published the outcome of its eighth scheduled review of price ceilings. Following this review, price ceilings were revised for 8 local authority areas. The new price ceilings came into effect on 1 July 2026. The First Home Scheme DAC will continue to monitor the price ceilings nationwide as part of any future review. The next price ceiling review is expected in December, to be implemented in January 2027. In this context, the review conducts an evidence-based analysis of market indicators at local authority scale, drawing from a variety of sources to best accommodate varied spatial and temporal scales in the data.

Data in relation to prices of new build homes in County Kildare can be accessed through the CSO and Property Price Register at the following links:

• Rolling 12 Month Market-based Household Purchases of Residential Dwellings https://data.cso.ie/table/HPM07

• Market-based Household Purchases of Residential Dwellings https://data.cso.ie/table/HPM05

• Property Price Register https://www.propertypriceregister.ie/website/npsra/pprweb.nsf/PPRDownloads?OpenForm