Homeless support organisations are making contingency plans for the spread of Covid-19 among those in emergency accommodation and accessing night services.

It is quite ironic that in the days since the Government was given a major thumbs down in general election, the economic news continues to improve.

The vote was thrown into doubt following the death of a candidate.

There are 624 approved applicants currently on the county council housing list in the area which includes most of the Ring of Kerry. Half are single persons.

Home-building activity in Dublin and Cork accounted for almost 40% of all new residential units under construction in December.

Innovative housing solutions have never been more necessary in Ireland, writes Joyce Fegan.

New laws designed to force the developers of large scale housing projects to act quickly on their planning permissions are unlikely to be introduced before Easter.

The public could see homeless hubs for older people in years to come, an organisation supporting older people to age at home has warned.

A €5m fine has been imposed on the State by the EU’s top court over a failure to comply with EU legislation that might have prevented landslides linked to the construction of a windfarm in the west of Ireland in 2003.

The study also shows that the prices paid by first-time buyers vary widely in different parts of the country.

The fine is due to the “seriousness and duration” of the failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment on the wind farm in the 11 years since a previous CJEU ruling on July 3, 2008.

Young couples seeking to purchase affordable housing sites in Co Cork will have to wait at least two years because the Government has so far failed to provide the funding to the council.

Local authorities have told the Minister for Housing that they will need more than €8 million to enforce new laws on short-term lettings.

The Irish Planning Institute (IPI) — the all-island body for professional planners engaged in physical, spatial and environmental planning in Ireland — has announced the election of four new members as Fellows at the institute’s annual Autumn Planning Conference.

Cork City Council has doubled the number of property inspectors on its books as it aims to improve its rate of inspection of private rented dwellings.

Instead of the budget investing in combating the housing crisis, Government is happy to fritter away €147m a year on emergency accommodation, says Colette Bennett

Construction has started on fewer than half of the large-scale housing and apartment schemes approved under the Government’s fast-track planning scheme.

Campaigners against a proposed plastics factory in Skibbereen have hailed a High Court ruling that the issue be returned to An Bord Pleanála for consideration and a possible Natura Impact Statement.

No additional resources have been given to either of Cork’s local authorities to enforce new rules on short-term letting.

The Simon Communities have said that rental costs in the private sector are still far too high.

A charity has called on Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to resign after the latest data from his Department shows that the number of people officially recorded as homeless remains above 10,000.

There was a far greater turnout by voters registered to vote at Mountjoy prison in the recent European and local elections than in some of the surrounding areas outside the prison in Dublin.

The EU’s top court has said Ireland should be subject to large daily fines, already amounting to almost €4m, for failing to comply with EU legislation that might have prevented landslides caused by the construction of a wind farm in 2003.

Voters in Limerick City and County could be casting their ballots for their first directly-elected mayor in 2021, a year ahead of schedule.

Kelp harvesting in Bantry Bay could be a step closer after a High Court judgement dismissing an appeal against the operation.

Water quality and public health will come under threat from the likely impacts of climate change in Ireland, a new report warns.

A feature of grandly-titled conferences in the corporate and political worlds — Tomorrow’s Game-changing Solutions for Plasterboard, Democracy, and its New Frontiers — is that they do not always supply in the real world what they promise, certainly not for plasterboard or democracy.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is being urged to conduct an “immediate” and full investigation into allegations surrounding registration forms for the supplementary electoral register in County Kerry.

The Government has been urged to set up a national relocation scheme to take hundreds of families out of homelessness each year.

The proposed 66-apartment, 13-storey tower in Glanmire would have been just four metres shorter than the Elysian tower, the tallest building in Cork.

New directly elected mayors will take over decision-making and administrative functions currently carried out by chief executives under new proposals put forward by the Government.

Local election candidates have been left in limbo over whether they are allowed into direct provision centres to canvass.

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime...

It will take at least another three years before the number of people becoming homeless starts to decrease.

 

Work on the country’s first large-scale kelp harvesting operation is due to commence on July 4.

Irish Water has confirmed it is to press ahead with one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in Ireland — the pumping of water from the Shannon river all the way to Dublin to supply the capital’s taps.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said that the Government’s €200m home-loan scheme has been a success, despite finance officials warning it posed a risk to the State.

A grant to help first-time buyers refurbish derelict buildings in rural villages and towns has yet to be rolled out, more than a year after being announced.

The presence of harmful microplastics in deep-water fish discovered by Irish researchers suggests the problem could be more serious than previously thought.

Half of homeowners’ septic tanks failed to meet the required standard last year, it has emerged.