Today all of the attention will be on two budget options and whether the Government will opt for budget A or budget B in the autumn. Regardless of which budget is presented, we cannot afford any more wasteful spending as a result of particularly poor economic decisions. Unfortunately, disastrous economic decisions continue to be made. It is no longer news that we are in the grip of a housing emergency, yet the housing delivery system continues to be one of the most expensive in the world. Today The Irish Times tells us that the latest economic report shows that over half the country is unaffordable for the average house buyer. The most recent report by daft.ie on the private rental sector showed that only 2,700 properties were available nationally. The average cost of renting in Dublin is in excess of €2,000 per month and prices have increased for 31 months in a row. Average rents nationally are 8% higher than this time last year. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, recently described his plans for expensive co-living spaces, measuring 16.5 sq. m, as "exciting" and suggested younger people should be willing to make sacrifices. I am sure the Taoiseach is aware by now that An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for such a co-living development on the grounds that it would fail to provide an acceptable living environment.

Serious concerns have been raised by several sources about the unsustainability of the HAP system which is estimated to cost about €2 billion in the next few years. Figures show that the Government's preferred turnkey option will cost €70,000 per unit more than a new build. It is not a stretch to say the Government's housing policy is an economic and social shambles. Recently the Committee of Public Accounts learned that a hotel room to accommodate a typical homeless family for one year would cost the State €67,000 compared to the average cost of servicing a mortgage or rental accommodation. There is a serious disparity. How can the Taoiseach stand over such economic madness? That is without taking into account the social consequences of such economic policies, particularly for children.

Clearly, this dysfunctional economic approach is working for some. One of the world's biggest vulture fund management groups, Link Capital, has stated Ireland is the gift that keeps on giving, referring to the level of distressed mortgages from which the fund derives 62% of its annual revenue through the heartache of Irish homeowners in distress. Government inaction on rental accommodation, distressed mortgages, vulture funds and most housing issues has only added to the problem. Will the Taoiseach commit to legislate to end the special tax benefits for REITs and use legislation to ensure they will not be allowed to dominate the private rental sector? Will he commit to an immediate rent freeze in order to protect immediately those at risk of losing their rented homes when the next rent hike inevitably comes?

Any decision on changing the tax treatment of REITs is a matter for the budget and all proposals for the budget will be considered between now and decisions being made in October. It is always the case that we regularly review tax incentives and tax expenditures in advance of a budget.

Regarding a rent freeze, we would certainly do it if we thought it would work but we do not think it would work. We think it would be counterproductive. One of the biggest problems we have is the large number of people leaving the rental sector. Even Opposition Members have highlighted the large number of people renting out a house or property now deciding to sell it on and leaving the rental market. This is a real problem because if fewer properties are available for rent, inevitably it will make it harder for people to find places to rent. We may find that a rent freeze would result in more people deciding to sell the house or apartment they were renting out. While rents might be frozen, many people would not be able to find anywhere. We could see an increase in homelessness as a consequence and none of us wants to see that. We think what we have developed, which is rent pressure zones with increases of no more than 4%, is a better response because at least that way it allows new properties to come into the rental market and does not leave people with nowhere to rent. Rent freezes might work for people whose rent is frozen but people who have nowhere to rent or need to move would probably find themselves more likely to be homeless and, therefore, that would be a counterproductive policy in our view.

Affordability is a real issue in many parts of the country, not least in the Dublin area. We saw interesting numbers in the past week or two showing the average price of a semi-detached house was approximately €200,000 in Galway and Limerick, approximately €150,000 in Waterford and even less than €100,000 in some rural counties. Of course, the picture in other parts of the country, including Dublin, is very different. The affordability index the Deputy mentioned is based on the price of the median house in each county. Generally, people buying their first home do not by the median house; they buy a house at entry level. Using the median is not appropriate in assessing affordability in this regard. It certainly does not tell the full story. Very few people buy the average or median house and most people buying for the first time tend to buy a starter home.

With regard to An Bord Pleanála, I welcome the fact it has refused planning permission for that particular co-living development in Cookstown near Tallaght. The reason there are guidelines on co-living is to ensure inappropriate developments do not get planning permission. Just as there are apartment buildings and housing estates that do not get planning permission, some co-living developments will not and should not get planning permission. The type of proposal made in this case is not what was ever intended and the guidelines make this clear, which is why it was refused.

Part of the reason for the unavailability of rented accommodation is the predominance of Airbnb accommodation. Houses that used to be rented are now occupied by people on that basis. The recent report on house prices in Dublin showed the average price of a three-bedroom house is €433,000, which is many multiples of the average industrial income. Rebuilding Ireland has missed its target in three successive years. It was never ambitious enough to begin with. At the heart of our unaffordable housing issue is the cost of building land. If a constitutional amendment was required to address the issue in the context of the social good, would the Taoiseach be willing to consider such a referendum?

I am always willing to consider legislative proposals or proposals to amend our Constitution but we always need to be careful that we understand what the consequences will be and how they will work. For example, if somebody as a consequence of that found their land was significantly devalued, would the taxpayer have to pay compensation?

All of those types of things would have to be considered. Would it only apply to land that gets owned in the future? Would it only be prospective and, therefore, would not have an effect or be of any value for many years ahead? Those are the kinds of issues that would have to be teased out. The wording would need to be known and there would need to be a full consideration as to how it might be interpreted by the courts and what the unintended consequences might be.