Almost 16,000 future homes provided with protection from bulk purchase

Almost 16,000 future homes have been provided with protection from potential bulk buying by investment funds through conditions placed on their planning permission.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is expected to update Cabinet on measures aimed at preventing investment funds from buying up entire developments.

The issue caused controversy last year amid reports that funds were trying to buy large numbers of homes in estates in Kildare and Dublin.

The Irish Times understands that more than 15,800 housing units have received planning permissions with a planning condition attached to restrict bulk sales since a circular to local authorities on the matter in 2021.

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Mr O’Brien issued guidelines to city and county councils in a bid to prevent multiple housing and duplex units from being sold to a single buyer.

Apartment developments are exempt from the regulations as their construction is viewed as being reliant on financing from investment funds.

Separately, Ministers are set to discuss new laws aimed at helping to co-ordinate the response to the Ukraine refugee crisis.

The legislation is being led by the Department of Justice but significant parts of the Bill are under the remit of the Departments of Children and Transport.

A source said the goal is to allow for “increased efficiencies” for the registering and processing of Ukrainians’ immigration and social protection needs.

It will allow people fleeing Ukraine to register with the immigration services at regional hubs, removing the need to travel to Dublin for registration.

One-stop shops will be established to provide the temporary protection as well as PPS numbers and income support.

Crèche pressure, GUBU, Johnson survives

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Jack Horgan-Jones is one of many parents paying through the nose for childcare. The Government wants to take some of the financial pain out of early years education and care - will its plan work? Harry McGee plugs his new podcast GUBU, a seven-part thriller about a series of grisly murders in the 1980s and how they impacted the government of Charles Haughey. And Denis Staunton has the latest from London where PM Boris Johnson lives to fight another day after winning a confidence vote.

The draft Bill is likely to be approved by Government in the coming weeks to be brought through the Houses of the Oireachtas before the end of the summer recess.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is expected to seek approval for the legislation required to abolish in-patient hospital charges for children under 16, an initiative announced in April.

Cabinet will also be asked to approve a plan to delegate some of Green Party leader Eamon Ryan’s statutory functions to Minister of State Ossian Smyth.

The elements of Mr Ryan’s brief being formally handed over, Green sources said, have already been looked after by Mr Smyth. They include policies on the circular economy and communications — specifically, cybersecurity and functions relating to waste and litter management, and the implementation of the single-use plastics directive.