I extend a very warm welcome to Deputy Bacik. Fáilte mhór agus comhghairdeas. Well done on a very convincing and wonderful victory. She is now the 37th woman in the House and that is good news for all of us.

Congratulations to Ivana. We all look forward very much to working with her.

Last week, the Taoiseach and his Government forced through an amendment to legislation dealing with Covid-19 business supports that provided yet another tax break to investment funds and cuckoo funds. This was an incredibly bad move, representing very bad value for taxpayers' money, lowering the number of homes available to buy by ordinary workers and families, and pushing up the cost of housing for everyone. Indeed, it is a prime example of all that is wrong with the Government's housing policy and another example of how the Taoiseach, his party and his partners in government do not understand the scale of the crisis in housing.

On Sunday, the Business Post reported that the Government's plan to lease 2,400 homes this year alone will cost in the region of €1 billion over the lifetime of those leasing arrangements. What is worst of all is that, at the end of the 25-year period, the State will not own these properties, despite paying in excess of €375,000 each for them within the 25-year timeframe. We know these leasing arrangements are even more expensive, by the way, in the city of Dublin, running at almost €500,000 for each unit. Little wonder that the funds industry is delighted by the Government's latest move, which continues apace despite the Taoiseach telling the Dáil in May that this practice should cease.

On the flip side of the coin, the latest figures available from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage show that the cost of building social and affordable houses is much less than these expensive leasing arrangements, coming in, on average, at approximately €240,000. It is now apparent that the Government is content to fork out well over the odds to these funds for leasing arrangements for properties that will not be in the ownership of the State at the end of the leasing arrangement. None of this makes any sense at all. In fact, it is the same mentality that has given us the disastrous deal in respect of the cost of the national children's hospital, which, as the Taoiseach knows, is running spectacularly over budget. Private interests should not be skimming super-profits off the top of building public infrastructure, yet that is what the Taoiseach is facilitating. His repeated assertion that these leasing arrangements are short term does not stack up when one considers that the arrangements will be in place for 25 years and, in the case of the 2,400 homes to which I refer, will cost the taxpayer and the State €1 billion.

Can the Taoiseach confirm that cost of €1 billion? Can he confirm what I have said, namely, that at the end of the 25 years, these homes will not be owned by the State? I urge him again, as I have urged him before, to cease and desist from pursuing these failed policies and, instead, invest in the construction of social and affordable homes. What we need is not sweetheart deals for these cuckoo funds; we need a doubling of capital investment in social and affordable housing. That is what should be announced in the summer economic statement.

First, I take the opportunity to congratulate Deputy Bacik on her election to Dáil Éireann and welcome her warmly to the House.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

She has been a long-standing activist on public and social issues. I think the people of Dublin Bay South recognised that and reflected it in their affirmation of her role. I have no doubt from her previous parliamentary experience that the Deputy will add value to Dáil Éireann. I also pay tribute to her party for its success in the by-election. No doubt we will have the occasional engagement and debate on issues pertaining to society and the future of our country.

Regarding Deputy McDonald's charge, her portrayal of the Government's housing policy is flawed and wrong in its assertions. The decision last week related to social homes and social housing. Without question, the Government’s focus has been on the need to build social and affordable housing directly. In fairness, any objective look back over the past month will show a Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who has been very active here on several fronts. Last week alone, I refer to his decision regarding reducing rent and ensuring it cannot increase in the future beyond the rate of inflation. It was a highly significant move the Deputy chose to ignore. I also point to the range of affordability measures in this regard, including legislation concerning the Land Development Agency, affordable homes and shared equity. I note the Deputy railed against it for the last several weeks but then ended up voting for the Affordable Housing Bill 2021.

Therefore, it is very difficult to take the Deputy seriously. She came in here week after week and attacked the Minister for a variety of measures, which her party subsequently supported and voted for. The Deputy spoke about taking this issue seriously and understanding the nature of housing. In reality, I do not think it is possible to lay that charge against any party in this House, given the record of the Deputy's party in opposing so many housing projects which were shovel-ready and ready to go. Sinn Féin opposed 975 homes in Clondalkin, 30% of which were social houses. The party opposed 500 homes in Tallaght, of which 80% would have been social and affordable houses. In addition, it opposed 278 homes in Swords. More recently, the party voted against 1,200 social, affordable and private homes in Ballymastone, Donabate. That development would have delivered 238 social homes and 238 affordable homes at prices between €250,000 and €270,000. Sinn Féin also opposed the Land Development Agency Bill, which is about affordability and getting State delivery of both social and affordable homes. The party spoke out and railed against the shared equity scheme, which will help people to buy houses at an affordable level and opposed the help-to-buy scheme, which so far has helped 22,000 first-time buyers. The Deputy's party and its spokesperson said we did not need it and have called for the scheme to be scrapped.

I do not get any sincerity in the Deputy's protestations about housing and I do not get any substance either. I get a sense that the Deputy's object and mission is to exploit the housing crisis for electoral gain only and is not interested in solutions around housing. The Deputy and her party are interested in exploiting the housing problem. I can say this much in that regard. In the context of the housing for all strategy, which the Minister is working on and will publish, our overwhelming focus will be on the direct building of social houses. We are in transition now. We simply cannot turn off the tap, when social houses can be provided through this leasing arrangement in the short term to provide for 2,400 families who can avail of social housing through this model. It is not at all the ideal model and that is why it will be seen that the focus is coming off of it. However, it is not the main focus now and it never has been. The main focus is on direct build and on the State getting directly involved in building and providing affordable homes for people who need to get access to homes they can afford in cities and towns across the country.

Public land should be used for building public housing - social and affordable housing - full stop. The days of Fianna Fáil and its crony friends, the big developers, creaming off at the people’s expense should be over. I would have thought the Taoiseach would have learned that from catastrophes past but perhaps he has not. He is confirming that €1 billion will be spent and will go into the pockets of these investment funds to lease back homes that will not be owned by the State. His assertion that this measure is transitional or short-term is patently untrue, given that the lifespan of these leases is 25 years. Moreover, the Government’s focus is not on direct build.

If its focus on was on direct build and the delivery of public, social and affordable housing at scale, then we would not have this point of contention or disagreement. It is Sinn Féin's view, as well as that of the ESRI and many others, that we need to double capital investment in the construction of social and affordable housing. I ask the Taoiseach to please confirm that the summer economic statement will contain a doubling of capital investment in this way. He is the Taoiseach and I would appreciate a direct answer.

The Government is a year in office. It has been hit by the Covid pandemic, which resulted in 8,000 or 9,000, if not 10,000, houses not being built due to the two lockdowns. That has set us back somewhat but we are going to try to catch up as quickly as we possibly can. Anyone looking at the figures would have to come back with the conclusion that the focus is on direct builds, both social and affordable, and the State getting involved in affordable housing. Through the Land Development Agency, we are utilising State lands to get far greater amounts of housing delivered. The issue is about housing supply and getting far more houses built in the coming years than we have been building in the last number of years. Last year, the number was close to 20,000 and it would have been much higher but for Covid. This year, we had a target of 25,000 but Covid hit us again. We are hoping to get close to 18,000 and if we can exceed that, all the better. From then on, in the housing for all strategy, for which additional capital funding will be provided, the focus, as has always been the case as far as I am concerned, will be on direct builds and affordable housing.