An Taoiseach never tires of telling us that he wants to lead a republic of opportunity. Apparently, he is a champion of those who get up early in the morning and go to work, unless of course they are a family earning less than €75,000 a year. It seems that in Deputy Varadkar's republic the only people who deserve affordable housing are the well off. Hundreds of thousands of working people are caught in Fine Gael's affordability trap. They earn too much to qualify for social housing but not enough to rent or buy a decent home. Where is the opportunity in Deputy Varadkar's republic for the young couple with an income of €50,000? They are forced to choose between paying up to 55% of their net income on rent or living with their parents for years in order to save for a deposit. Where is the opportunity in Deputy Varadkar's republic for a couple in their late 50s who are separated or divorced from an earlier relationship? They can manage their rent alright, but they fear for a future of real financial hardship after retirement. Let us not forget the single working person on €35,000 a year, even though the Government obviously has. Such people are forced to live in shared accommodation because they simply cannot afford to buy or rent.

Average rents are now between €14,000 and €23,000 a year. Average house prices across the State are at €250,000 and, in Dublin, somewhere in the region of €400,000. No doubt the Taoiseach will tell us that supply is the answer and that it is his Government's number one priority. We all know, of course, that supply in and of itself does not guarantee affordability. At the height of the boom, when the State was delivering 90,000 homes a year, the Taoiseach will remember that prices of rental and purchase of accommodation were rising through the roof.

The Taoiseach will also tell us of his myriad schemes - help to buy, the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, and home building finance Ireland. This amounts to €1.1 billion of subsidies to private sectors developers. For what? To provide tax relief for those earning over €90,000 with enough savings to buy their own home. Homes are for sale at €320,000 in Dublin and €280,000 elsewhere, courtesy of LIHAF and home building finance Ireland. Nothing is provided for the hard-working families who earn between €40,000 and €70,000 a year. Despite all the talk and all the subsidies for developers, it is clear there is no opportunity for working families to live in affordable accommodation. My questions are very simple. They are in fact so simple that the Taoiseach may be able to answer them without referring to his script. What is the Government's definition of affordable housing? What is the exact number of genuinely affordable housing units which will be delivered by the Taoiseach's Government next year?

I cannot give the Deputy a numerical definition of affordable housing. Obviously it depends on the individual. I certainly believe that somebody who earns the average income in the State should be able to get a mortgage and purchase a home. Without giving the Deputy a numerical definition I cannot answer the second part of the Deputy's question. In terms of what we have done, it is important to acknowledge that the Government has brought about rent certainty. We now have a very large number of people renting in Ireland, perhaps more than ever before. Only a few months ago we introduced rent certainty which caps rent increases at 4%. That has provided certainty and relief for many people who otherwise would be facing-----

That is hilarious.

-----very big increases in their rents. And yes, it is about supply. It is not just about supply, but it is about supply. I am encouraged by the fact that planning permissions and construction are increasing. I was in my constituency on Monday with the Minister, Deputy Murphy, visiting the Hansfield area where more than 1,000 houses are under construction. Some 150 of these are social housing and 800 to 900 are family and affordable housing. In that part of my constituency there are houses available for €320,000 and apartments available for €220,000. People able to secure a 35 year mortgage would pay €880 a month, which is considerably less than people pay in rent in many parts of the city. We are making real progress in that regard.

There is one thing on which I have to answer the Deputy. The Deputy is using the usual Sinn Féin technique of telling me what I think. Yes, I do stand for people who work and get up early in the morning. I absolutely do. So does this Government and so does the party which I lead. The definition which the Deputy has offered is entirely bogus. I have no idea where he has gotten the threshold of €75,000. I will give him some examples of the kind of things we are doing for people who do get up early in the morning and work, at all income levels.

In the recent budget we reduced the USC for everyone who pays it. Some 70% of taxpayers will see a reduction in the USC. We raised the standard rate cut-off point. That benefits any individual earning more than €35,000 and any single-income couple earning more than €45,000. We reduced prescription medicine costs for everyone - those who have medical cards and those who do not. That applies to people of all incomes. We have also expanded child care provision and introduced a guaranteed second year of pre-school for working people of all incomes. In addition, we have introduced subsidised child care. There are now subsidies universally for working parents of all income levels. There are also targeted subsidies for those on the lowest pay. We have increased the minimum wage twice under this Government for those on the lowest pay. We are restoring public sector pay, starting with those on the lowest incomes but extending up the line as time goes by. I could go on, but those are just a few of the myriad ways in which this Government is standing up for people who work, people who get up early in the morning and people at all income levels.

Will the Taoiseach tell us about himself?

I thank the Taoiseach. I was hoping he would mention Hansfield in Fingal. I watched the Twitter clip yesterday of the Taoiseach in a hard hat. Initially I thought it was a "Callan's Kicks" satire because the Taoiseach was standing beside houses, the sale prices of which are €315,000 to €395,000. One would need a combined household income of between €81,000 and €101,000 and a deposit of €31,000 to €39,000 to purchase one. The Taoiseach asked me where I got my definition of affordable housing. It is from legislation and from existing affordable housing schemes introduced in this State. The definition is above the threshold for social housing and equates to a household average of approximately €75,000. It is absolutely remarkable that our Taoiseach does not even know the legislative definition of affordable housing, let alone have a definition for his own Government, and cannot tell us how many affordable housing units will be delivered for the €1.1 billion of subsidies he is giving to private developers.

All of those measures the Taoiseach announced to put pennies in the pockets of working families will do nothing if he does not address the spiralling cost of purchasing or renting affordable homes. Perhaps he can answer as to why he has no targets. When will he introduce a definition of "affordable housing" to give working families a real break?

I do not have the exact figures to hand but I will ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to provide them to the Deputy as soon as possible.

He does not have any either.

I was in Hansfield, not Hanstead. It is in the administrative county of Fingal. Hanstead may be in the Deputy's constituency. Perhaps it is in Lucan or somewhere like that. The Deputy is, of course, misinformed because the houses that were behind me are not for sale. They are social housing.

The houses on the left of the Taoiseach were for sale. They were right behind him.

They were just pictures of houses.

Cardboard cutouts.

This is getting to the point of triviality. For anyone interested in the facts, there are approximately 1,000 homes under construction there. They include social housing that is not for sale and apartments that are specially adapted for people with disabilities.

Three hundred and ninety-five thousand euro.

The development includes private housing. The whole point of what we are trying to do in places such as Hansfield is to have a mixed area with apartments and houses of different types. What we want is integrated communities. We want social and affordable housing and housing for people who are a bit better off all in the same area. The Sinn Féin approach, of course, is totally different. We have seen that from the way its members behave in Dublin City Council. They do not want mixed communities.

That is absolutely untrue.

They want social housing-only communities. They want segregation in our cities.

That is absolutely not true and the Taoiseach knows that.

We know the social consequences that derive from that.

The Taoiseach should talk to his own councillors.

We know how Sinn Féin votes in the councils on which it has councillors across Dublin.

Mixed tenure-----

It is to keep the property tax down, cut the budget for homelessness, cut the budget for housing and support only segregated communities, with people living in social housing in one district and people living in private housing in the other.

Dishonesty of the highest order.

The reason Sinn Féin wants that is because it wants segregation. It wants to divide people so it can brew up discontent and disadvantage.

Shame on the Taoiseach.

Hurlers on the ditch. Sinn Féin has never built one house.