I also wish to speak about the different experiences that people will face as Christmas approaches. As the Christmas lights go up, it should be a time of excitement, happiness and joy, particularly for children and families. In truth, it will be a tale of two very different Christmases, depending on where one is positioned in Irish society and, in particular, whether one has a roof over one's head. Imagine the situation faced by Elaine and her three children, for example, who visited my office in the past few weeks and who are about to be evicted, having exhausted all appeals through the Residential Tenancies Board and with nowhere to go. Another family with three children, who would rather not have their names mentioned, face eviction before Christmas, while the father of yet another family, who visited me this week and who are living in emergency accommodation in Wicklow, must take his children to three different schools in south Dublin, sit in the car all day waiting for them to finish school and then drive back to Wicklow every day. Other families are experiencing their second or even third Christmas in emergency accommodation. It is shameful that people are being evicted in the midst of this situation and that children must go through a second or third Christmas like this. For others, however, it will be a bumper Christmas.

I wish to draw the Taoiseach's attention to this property supplement from a newspaper which states: "Strong residential investment deals. Over 1,600 apartments sold. Total value €610 million." The vast majority of these, of which approximately four are in my area, are NAMA properties that were sold or are being sold to real estate investment trusts, REITs, or wealth asset management companies. The average price is approximately €380,000. The most recent one to be sold in Dún Laoghaire, comprising 214 apartments, cost €95 million at an average price of €440,000 per unit. The article helpfully goes on to state how that block will generate approximately €5 million in rental revenue for the new purchasers. These properties are being sold by NAMA. They are publicly owned and they are being sold to Kennedy Wilson, REITs and other wealth asset management companies which in some cases, to add insult to injury, will then lease them back to local authorities at extortionate prices, boasting about the amount of profit they are making. At the same time, families will suffer a miserable Christmas in emergency accommodation or face eviction.

We face a large demonstration on Saturday which will call for an end to evictions into homelessness. Should the Government not take emergency measures to ensure no kids or families are evicted as Christmas approaches? Will it do anything to stop NAMA selling thousands of properties that could be used to provide secure, affordable, permanent homes for these families who are suffering trauma and hardship as Christmas approaches?

I acknowledge that Christmas is, and can be, a stressful time for some families, particularly those who are living in emergency accommodation or looking for a new place to rent. I can imagine the concerns parents must have in the run-up to Christmas when they are asked by kids how Santa will visit if the hotel room does not have a chimney, or where the Christmas tree will be put. I totally understand the Deputy's concerns and, whether he believes it or not, I share those concerns. I also think about those families in the run-up to Christmas.

Figures on emergency accommodation will be released this week. I do not have them yet but I understand from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, that they will show a fall in the number of children and families in emergency accommodation and a reduction in the number of families presenting as homeless in Dublin. On the other hand, they will show an increase in the number of individuals who are in emergency accommodation. Those figures will be available later today or tomorrow.

The only solution to this is supply. While it is not the entire solution, it is at the centre of it. We are seeing a real increase in the supply of new homes across Ireland. By the end of this year, we expect 18,000 new houses and apartments to have been built, and that is not just a number. Behind it are 18,000 people, that is, 18,000 families getting keys to a new house or apartment for the first time this year. Some 18,000 families, therefore, will be in a new home this Christmas which they were not in last year. We need to recognise the progress made in that regard. There will also be an increase of approximately 8,000 in the social housing stock this year, more than half of which are new builds by local authorities and affordable housing bodies, while the rest will be acquired through Part V leasing and acquisition. That is a significant change and increase compared with the situation last year.

On evictions, the Deputy will have seen the figures. I do not have the exact number but I think there were approximately 300 evictions this year. Evictions happen for all sorts of reasons and not all of them are evictions into homelessness, although some are. They can also be related to anti-social behaviour and people who live on a street where neighbours have caused havoc will understand why evictions are sometimes sadly necessary. The courts tend to take a sympathetic view of families if an eviction order is sought. We will bring forward legislation, which is being championed by the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to strengthen the power of the courts to refuse eviction orders and eviction requests where they relate to a family.

For those who face eviction before Christmas, those words are not much consolation. If the Taoiseach recognises this as an emergency, why does he not save those children and families the trauma and hardship they face by immediately instigating emergency legislation that states they will not be evicted and that there will be no evictions while this emergency continues, particularly not in the winter months or facing into Christmas? In other European states, it is against the law to evict people at this time of year, but that will happen here.

It infuriates me when the Taoiseach talks about supply. He did not answer the central question about the article, which is evidence of the supply. Public property is being flogged off to vulture funds. Some 700 of the properties are in my area, Dún Laoghaire, and they would resolve the emergency homelessness crisis there. In Lucan and Santry there are hundreds of apartments that we had in our hands and that could be used to house those families who are in the hubs and who face eviction but we are flogging the apartments off. In the docklands, rents of €3,300 a month will then be charged and will go to Kennedy Wilson, an American vulture fund. Why does the Taoiseach allow that to happen? Why does he allow public property be sold to people who charge extortionate rents and evict people who cannot pay them, when that property could be used to house the families who are in the hubs, on the waiting lists and facing eviction? It is a scandal.

I cannot see the newspaper the Deputy held up from here. He is making the assumption that all of the properties in question are vacant. That may not be the case. Those properties might be fully or partially occupied and I am sure the Deputy is not suggesting that the people in those apartments should be evicted to make way for others.

The ones being sold are empty.

It is not the case that they are public property. NAMA owns the loans not the properties and it is disingenuous to make out that a property which is held as collateral against a loan owned by NAMA is public property, something I have seen a few times. That is not the case. In the past week or two, some of the Deputy's fellow travellers in his party had to admit that a property was not owned by NAMA and that the latter just owned the loan.

That is ridiculous semantics.

It is not semantics, it is the difference between facts and disingenuity because it does not suit the Deputy's argument.