Yesterday, thousands of people gathered outside the gates here to stand against the homelessness and housing crisis. There were people from all walks of life and sectors of society, including students, parents, teachers, nurses, pensioners, workers and the unemployed. Their message to the Government, if it was not heard, was loud and clear. It was a message to the Government that its housing policies are failing and that they want real, meaningful solutions. They represented, outside the gates of Leinster House, hundreds of thousands of people who are affected by the housing emergency, people who are affected day in, day out. They represented the 10,000 people in emergency accommodation, including the 4,000 children. They represented those who are struggling with unaffordable rents which are spiralling out of control. They represented those who cannot afford to buy their own homes and are languishing on council waiting lists. The Tánaiste must now surely accept the reality that no matter how many times he or members of his Government say it, their housing policies are simply not working. It is time to say enough is enough.

A recent Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, study shows that a third of households are paying more than 30% of their income on rent. That is the level that is deemed unaffordable. It gets worse because a shocking 70% of modest income households are spending more than 30%. That is a scandal. Next week's budget offers an opportunity to give renters a break. That is why we in Sinn Féin have proposed the introduction of a temporary tax relief for renters and a three year emergency rent freeze. That is a proposal befitting the scale and measure of the crisis that we face in this State. Alongside that, the Tánaiste knows that we need to see a dramatic increase in the delivery of social and affordable homes in 2019. Budget 2019 can mark a step change in that regard. That means doubling the level of capital investment in housing. That is what Sinn Féin, what last night's cross-party motion and what the thousands of people outside the gates who chanted loudly are calling for the Government to do.

The Taoiseach and Ministers keep saying that money is not an issue and that they will fund any measure to tackle the crisis. As the saying goes, the Tánaiste needs to put his money where his mouth is. There are three large-scale council developments ready to go. One is in Shanganagh in Dún Laoghaire and would deliver 500 social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes. One in Damastown in west Dublin would deliver 1,000 homes. One in Kilcarbery in south Dublin would deliver another 1,000 homes. These are council-led proposals with cross-party support for mixed income and mixed tenure estates. They would provide 2,500 needed homes which would have a significant impact on the housing crisis right now. Will the Government directly fund these three council-led projects? Will it increase capital investment in housing by the €1 billion that is required? Will it introduce tax relief for renters and an emergency rent freeze in next Tuesday's budget?

The Government understands the frustration of many people who marched yesterday to make a point on housing. We are in the midst of a very pressurised situation for many families who are renting, cannot afford to purchase their own home or are waiting for social housing. The biggest priority in Government with regard to the domestic political agenda is and has been housing for quite some time. Over the past two years, we have delivered 15,000 new social houses. This year, we will deliver approximately 8,000 extra. Next year, it will be close to 10,000 and in the years after that, it will be close to 12,000, year on year, every year. We committed a huge capital package many months ago to delivering on that. The impression that some people would like to give, that this Government has some kind of ideological objection to putting public money into building social housing for people who cannot afford to buy their own homes, is absolutely untrue and not borne out by the facts. We are committed to a dramatic increase in the provision of publicly funded social housing, with 100,000 in the next ten years. We will follow through on that. That will be seen clearly in next week's budget and also in capital commitments. The projects which are chosen are those which have been assessed by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, working with local authorities throughout the country to make sure that we deliver as many affordable and social houses as we can in the shortest possible timeframe.

In my experience as Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, then and now, money is not the main obstacle to delivering the volume of houses that we need in the short to medium term. Processes and decision-making have delayed the pace of delivery of social housing, which is increasing by the month. Looking at virtually any metric relating to supply, whether it is the number of first-time buyers purchasing homes or affordable houses that they are accessing or social houses being delivered or planning permission applications being submitted and granted, or at the money the Government continues to spend on homeless services as well as housing, all of those are moving in the right direction, but I know it cannot happen quickly enough for many people. The housing plan that I was involved in, this Government has endorsed and the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is building on, was always a five-year plan to correct and essentially reshape a housing market from the perspective of rentals, social housing and private purchases. That takes time to fix.

There the Tánaiste goes again, saying our housing policy is working. If he says it over and over again, maybe he will even start to believe it himself. It is simply not working. Thousands of people came onto the streets of Dublin yesterday to make it clear to the Government that it is not working. The Government is failing people, including students, those in emergency accommodation and the 80,000 more people who are now living with their parents than there were last year. The Government is failing people who want to get on to the property market because that is the outworking of the Government's policies. Rents are out of control, at nearly 40% above peak prices. Houses are out of the reach of ordinary young couples. There is a crisis of unprecedented proportions, with 10,000 people in emergency accommodation. They do not want the Tánaiste's understanding. They want action, with an increased level of capital investment.

The Government needs to double the amount of money being put into social and affordable housing. The Government will not deliver 8,000 social houses in 2018. It will deliver 5,500 social houses, and that is nowhere near what is needed to deal with the crisis. If the Tánaiste says money is not a problem, then he should put his money where his mouth is. There are three proposals for cost rental projects which can deliver 2,500 social and affordable homes in three different sites in Dublin. The Department and the Government have not given sanction to them. The Government can take to its feet and start to turn the tide by saying that it will directly fund those projects and begin to deliver large-scale social housing which is needed to deal with the crisis that the Government has brought about as a result of its underfunding and its policies that have failed those in the rental and housing sectors.

We will deal with the delivery of an extra 8,000 social houses this year. We delivered-----

It is 5,500.

There is a difference between the numbers which the Deputy likes to quote-----

I am quoting the Department's numbers.

-----which are selective quotes to try to exaggerate for effect-----

Some 5,500 real social housing units in a year. The Tánaiste should read the Department's documents.

-----as he does all the time. New social housing is not just about new builds. It is also about bringing other properties and acquisitions-----

I agree. Some 5,500.

-----back into new social housing stock. In the past two years, we have dramatically increased the amount of social housing stock that is in use, but we need to do much more. We are talking about adding another 100,000 social houses to the housing stock over time, which is a hugely ambitious social housing plan which we will deliver on. I would contend that the delay in social housing delivery right now is not about the availability of capital. It is about process and capacity within local authorities to deliver at the pace at which we are asking them to deliver.

The Minister has projects on his desk. The Tánaiste knows that.

Deputy, please.

Deputy Doherty knows that better than most but it does not suit his political narrative to accept it.

The Tánaiste knows that projects-----

The Tánaiste should be allowed to respond.

That is the reality.

The Tánaiste should not blame councils.

He is shifting the blame.

The time is up. I call Deputy Brendan Howlin.

It is an abdication of responsibility. The Government has not heard the last of the thousands who marched on this House yesterday.