This morning's newspapers are once again filled with horror stories of the impact of the Government's housing policy on children. Yesterday's Social Justice Ireland conference was told of toddlers' inability to walk, crawl or chew because of prolonged stays in emergency accommodation. The conference heard from one expert who said:

Time lost in the first five years of a child's development is not easily recovered. It requires wraparound supports, including physical and speech therapies, counselling services and dieticians.

At the launch of its annual report this morning, Respond said just 8% of families in its hub units were able to exit homelessness into social housing last year. This is the lived reality of Fine Gael's failed housing policy, which continues to survive only at the behest of Deputy Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil. Rebuilding Ireland is now in its fourth year, and what have been the results? Homelessness is up 67%, with more than 10,000 people officially homeless, according to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Child homelessness is up a shocking 81%, and tonight more than 4,000 children will sleep in hotels, hubs and hostels. Some will spend their fourth year in emergency accommodation this Christmastime. As we know, rents are up a staggering 39%, and new rents across the State are almost €5,000 more expensive this year than they were when this Government took office. In Dublin city they are €7,500 per year more expensive than in 2016. As we all know, house prices are up over 20%, resulting in a whole generation of young people locked out of home ownership.

Today the Social Democrats announced they will table a motion of no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, next week. They have said enough is enough, and I wholeheartedly agree. Sinn Féin will fully support the motion, and I urge all Opposition Deputies, including those in Fianna Fáil, to do likewise. It is no longer credible for parties to attack the Government's housing policy and record while propping up that very same Government. It is time for Deputy Micheál Martin to declare whether he is on the side of homeless children or the side of Deputy Eoghan Murphy. Importantly, next week's votes will also be the first for the four newly elected by-election Deputies when they enter Dáil Éireann. The electorate therefore has a very clear choice to make this Friday: will voters vote for candidates who will continue to support this failing Government and its housing policy or will they too say enough is enough and vote no confidence in Deputy Eoghan Murphy and Rebuilding Ireland?

In light of the growing evidence, as in the newspapers this morning, does the Taoiseach still have confidence in Rebuilding Ireland and in his Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government?

Yes, I do.

What a joke.

Deputy Ó Broin mentioned a number of reports published by NGOs in recent weeks. Quite a few NGOs working in the housing and homelessness sector have published their annual reports in recent weeks. These reports are very useful and help add to our understanding of homelessness and the impact it has on those who experience it. The Deputy mentioned the Respond report, for example. One thing that report points out is that the average stay in a family hub is six months. Yes, for various reasons some families may end up in emergency accommodation for a prolonged period, and I accept that six months is six months too long, but this is very different from the narrative that suggests that the majority of people in homelessness are growing up in or spending years in homelessness.

Most people are not in hubs but in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels.

Respond's report says the average is six months. It also points out that 16% of people, with a little support, are able to return to the family homes from which they came, and that should be seen as a positive.

Deputy Ó Broin asked about the results of Rebuilding Ireland, the Government's housing plan. I draw his attention to the extent to which things have changed since Rebuilding Ireland was published. In the year before it was published and implementation began, and before the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, became Minister, family homelessness increased by 60%, a huge increase. In the past year, thankfully, we have seen a negligible or no increase in family homelessness. I think the figure for the past year is 0.17%. No increase in family homelessness for one year is not something to be proud of and not something I am bragging about, and I do not want anyone to misrepresent what I am saying. However, before Rebuilding Ireland was published and before we started implementing it, family homelessness was going up by 60%. It has levelled off in the past year. That is the difference it has made. It has only started, though. It is a five-year plan, not a two-year plan. We have got to the point at which the figure has levelled off. We now need to see reductions in the coming months and years.

Deputy Ó Broin talked about growing evidence. There is now growing evidence of housing supply being delivered, with 50,000 houses and apartments built since I became Taoiseach, including 20,000 in the past year, which represents a 22% increase on last year, according to the CSO. There has been an 80% increase in the number of apartments built. More social housing is being provided than at any point in this decade, and the number of people on housing lists is going down. We are seeing progress. Yes, it was a slow start - of course it was going to be a slow start. One cannot rebuild a construction sector overnight. However, the plan, which was published two years ago and has now been implemented for two years, is showing results and we now need to build on them. One thing that will not make a difference, I guarantee the Deputy, is a motion of no confidence and a general election in Christmas week or the following week. That will not build any houses. It might get Sinn Féin publicity, but that is about it.

The Taoiseach has learned from his Minister how to misread figures because that very same report he quotes tells us more than half of the children who are currently homeless are spending more than one year in emergency accommodation when we combine hotels and hubs. If we take figures from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, it tells us more than 20% of the children in emergency accommodation have spent more than two years in it. The idea that somehow people are moved on within six months is simply misleading the House. To say that since Rebuilding Ireland was produced family homelessness has not increased simply is not true. Since it was launched child homelessness in this State has increased 81%. There are more children today sleeping in emergency accommodation than when this Government was formed. Those are the facts from the Minister's Department.

With respect to increasing supply, the Government is 30% shy of the overall targets for Rebuilding Ireland and its investment in social housing is only half what is required. This plan is not working. The Government is not meeting the needs of people who require social and affordable housing. The motion that will be tabled next week will send a clear signal to the Government that the plan is not working, that the people do not support it, and that we want change. That is why everybody on the Opposition benches, including Fianna Fáil, has to make it clear are they on the side of those people in need of social and affordable housing or on the side of a Taoiseach whose head is so firmly buried in the sand he cannot even read reports correctly.

I know the Deputy is a fan of statistics and I guess I am too, and I imagine we could exchange statistics until the night is long. The Respond report to which he referred, however, does not state what he said. It shows more than half of people spend less than one year in homelessness and those in family hubs, on average, six months. That is why we want to make sure we have more family hubs and fewer people in hotels and in bed and breakfast accommodation. Rebuilding Ireland is a five-year plan and it was always intended to be that.

This is the Taoiseach's fourth year in government.

It was never going to be the case that a five-year plan would show all results in two years. As I said, in the year before Rebuilding Ireland was launched, family homelessness increased by 60%, and in the year gone by, it has increased by 0.17%. We are seeing family homelessness level off. We will see improvements in the years to come. We are seeing housing supply increase dramatically. Some 20,000 homes were built in the past year, a 22% increase on the year before that.

That is 10,000 short of the Rebuilding Ireland targets of 30,000.

We can see from indicators such as planning permissions and commencement notices that supply will continue to increase.

I can read the Minister's plan, unlike him.

We are seeing house prices levelling off and falling in Dublin, which is no small thing. Some 15,000 young people, individuals and couples were assisted by the help-to-buy scheme to buy their first home. Some 2,500 people have got a low-interest mortgage through the Rebuilding Ireland Home loan plan. Those are the types of results we have seen in the past two years. We need to build on them further, but what we do not need is will-o'-the-wisp paper-thin housing policies from the Opposition that we all know will not work.