Ar an gcéad dul síos, I too, on behalf of the Rural Independent Group, condemn that most savage crime in Texas last night and I extend my sympathies to everyone affected.

It is appropriate the Minister is taking Leaders’ Questions here today. The housing crisis is worsening and immediate emergency measures are required to prevent more and more families from becoming homeless, to assist those who have already become homeless, and to give our Irish citizens a fair chance at homeownership.

The crisis in Tipperary is deepening, and despite the efforts of Tipperary County Council, which I salute, to meet its housing targets, these measures are simply insufficient to deal with the scale of the problem. Today, just nine properties are listed on daft.ie as being available in the for-rent category in the entire county of Tipperary. This is a huge county from Carrick-on-Suir right up to Lorrha with a population of 159,000 people. In the south of the county, just three properties are available to rent with nothing larger than two-bedroom apartments available for €1,000. It is just desperate.

Housing is now beyond the reach of most Irish people and this will have a very serious long-term impact on Ireland’s social fabric. Tipperary County Council’s recent analysis of household affordability found that 21.2% of households in Tipperary are experiencing affordability issues in keeping a roof over their heads, while Tipperary has not been included in the Housing for All plan to build affordable houses on State-owned land between now and 2026. This is an awful situation.

A shocking new report now confirms that first-time buyers will now need an income of €77,000 to buy a home, which is almost €30,000 above the average national wage. This means the housing market is closed to the majority of first-time buyers in Ireland. The report also shows that those first-time buyers who can get a mortgage approval, mainly couples, are drawing down an average of €254,000 on new homes, which is €17,000 above the €237,000 figure at the height of the boom. Something is badly wrong here.

This means the Government’s housing policy is trapping even those who can get onto the housing ladder in a mountain of debt that will take a lifetime to repay. The Government’s housing policies are a catastrophic mess and the only winners are the banks and the multinational-type developers and investment funds. Ireland's housing problems are rooted in the high cost of construction, which has driven up our sale and rental prices and is compounded by lack of supply and a growing population.

The Government’s plans to give between €120,000 and €144,000 per apartment to large multinational developers is outright insanity in our and my opinion. The move will only add to the costs and will drive up the unaffordability gap that is already there for everyone. This is a crazy and daft idea.

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter of housing. First, I state that no county is excluded from the affordability measures and I wish to be very clear with the Deputy on that.

There is.

Éist liom, right. No county is excluded. I will be in-----

Kerry is out of that.

You are beginning to sound like Sinn Féin there, Danny. Relax. The-----

Kerry is out.

The Minister cannot deny the truth.

It is not on the list.

I ask Deputy Healy Rae to control himself please.

That is praise indeed.

Nílim cinnte faoi sin, a Phádraig. Ar aon nós, the affordable housing fund is open to every local authority. I am actually in Tipperary tomorrow, and I hope I will see Deputy McGrath there. I will be meeting with the chief executive and the housing team of-----

Beidh fíorfháilte roimhe ann.

Go raibh míle. I want to tell the Deputy now-----

Bring the airgead with you.

-----that the affordable housing fund is open for every local authority to provide schemes to us where we can deliver affordable homes.

That is not what we are being told.

That is a fact.

We will hold the Minister to that.

I look forward to this and I will assess myself in a positive way any application that comes forward that makes sense. That is one aspect of how we deal with affordability.

The second one, which is open to all 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, is the First Home shared equity scheme. I referred to this earlier and I will launch this scheme on 1 July of this year. This will be a game changer for thousands of young and not-so-young people who heretofore were not able to buy their own home. This will bridge the gap between the finance they have and the finance they need by the State taking an equity in that. That will be available to potential homeowners in Tipperary and, I inform Deputy Healy Rae, in Kerry.

I also refer to what we are doing in respect to vacancy. The Croí Cónaithe towns and villages scheme, which we will launch shortly, will provide assistance to people to take vacant property that is in our main streets, right through Tipperary, Kerry and across this country, to be able to bring vacant properties back into use and to enable people to buy them. We will provide support for those homes to be renovated on the basis that they are bought by owner-occupiers, because I believe in homeownership.

I also believe in providing social homes for people who need them. That is why this year we will provide 9,000 new-build social homes. This will be the highest number of such new builds in any year since the foundation of the State. I thank the Deputy for his support for the Affordable Housing Act, and the plan is taking hold now. Unlike what others will say, which is that this situation can be resolved overnight, it cannot and the people know that too. We are making progress, however, in that space. We have seen approximately 5,700 commencements on new homes in the first quarter of this year. This is the highest amount since 2011. We have also seen more than 46,000 homes purchased to February 2022. There are still issues and I am not saying the situation is resolved - nothing close to it - but we have the most targeted plan to deliver affordable, social homes, tackle vacancy and drive down homelessness throughout this country that any government has brought forward.

The Minister will be welcome to Tipperary. He talks the good talk but we were told that we are out of that plan. The catastrophic dysfunction means that all small builders are not even able now to tender for building houses that are bound to fixed-price contracts. This is just not happening and they have given up the ghost because they cannot get prices from suppliers.

Before the most recent general election, the Fianna Fáil leader and now Taoiseach promised that under his party in government, councils would be given the tools to deal with this, but those tools have not been given. The Government talks the talk but that is all. I will bring the Minister to any main street in any town in Tipperary tomorrow and show him the situation. There is a song called "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", but we will have a long good day in Tipperary and he will see the dereliction and the vacant properties. We are hearing about this being dealt with for 15 years but it has not happened. The Minister will be a hero if he gets it going and gets those places restored. In doing so, he will do two things: he will provide accommodation for Irish people and he will create living town centres, which is very important.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland told Deputies today that the cost of delivering a three-bedroom semi-detached home on a new estate was €330,000 in 2016 and had risen to €371,000 in 2020. All the experts and institutions are telling the Minister what is happening but he is telling a different story in here.

The time is up, Deputy.

A reality check is needed. The Minister needs to get down and dirty. He should bring his wellies tomorrow and we will show him many good sites that are available for building houses.

We are very serious about tackling the housing crisis. We acknowledge it is there and that a big aspect of it is vacancy. That is why we are bringing forward very targeted measures to deal with it. I have been all across the country, including to Waterford with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, where 72 apartments have been built in St. Joseph's House, a converted old school and convent, and are now providing permanent homes for people. I was in Crumlin earlier this week with colleagues, where 103 one-bedroom new-build apartments for seniors are being provided. New builds are happening but it will take time to feel the effect. There is no question about that.

In Tipperary, there is a very strong pipeline for the delivery of social homes. I commend the director of services for housing in Tipperary, to whom I spoke last week, on the work being done there, not only in providing homes for those who already are on the social housing list but also in providing assistance in response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. I look forward to meeting the Deputy in Tipperary tomorrow. Yes, it will be a long day. I look forward to him accompanying me and my being able to talk directly to people in the council. To be very clear, the affordable housing fund is open to all local authorities to make applications.