On Friday we had another very depressing sense of déjà vu in respect of family homelessness when the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage reported that we are now back to pre-pandemic levels of homelessness, with more than 10,000 people in emergency accommodation, nearly 3,000 of whom are children. This is the sharpest edge of the housing crisis that has been created, perpetuated and presided over by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Make no mistake, this scandal is of the Government's making. It consistently fails to provide an adequate level of real social housing, refuses to address the problems in the private rental sector and also refuses to introduce rigorous protections against eviction. It is now time to see sense. I do not know what will shame this Government into action, if these figures and almost children 3,000 children in homelessness do not. People are sick of kids growing up in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. When will we see sense? When will we see the Government take the actions that will work to address this crisis?

Any increase in the level of homelessness is deeply regrettable and disappointing and warrants action from Government. That is why we are acting. This is the number one priority for the Government. We are investing a record amount of money to increase the supply of all forms of housing, including public and cost-rental housing as well as the introduction of new affordable schemes. We are also working with the private sector and the Land Development Agency. We are seeing progress in relation to supply and that is ultimately the solution here. Nearly 35,000 homes commenced construction in the year to March 2022 which is the highest rolling 12-month figure since records began. We will deliver close to 12,000 social homes this year, of which 9,000 will be new builds. The cost-rental model is now being rolled out. It is about delivering as much as we possibly can to address the homelessness challenge, which is growing and is of serious concern.

Truly shocking figures on homelessness were released over the weekend, with over 10,000 people without a home nationally, almost 3,000 of whom are children. There are more than 7,000 people in Dublin without a home, a shocking figure. We also have obligations to the Ukrainian community here. I welcome the Ukrainian Action in Ireland representatives who are in the Public Gallery. We are all very conscious of the need to deliver on housing and to deliver an effective housing policy.

Earlier I attended the re-launch of Raise the Roof and commend all those involved in this very broad-based coalition which has put forward very reasonable and sensible proposals to ensure that we see a supply of affordable homes coming on stream and that these affordable homes are delivered swiftly in order to address the really serious and chronic needs of so many communities across the country and in our capital city.

I also welcome the Ukrainian representatives to the House. I share Deputy Bacik's view about the level of priority that this must be afforded. The Government is investing a record amount of money and that has to be translated into the delivery of homes. Ultimately, what will make a difference here is the breadth of different types of tenure and making progress on that. This includes cost rental, which is a very welcome innovation in Ireland. It is good to see individual schemes coming on stream now. There will also be affordable purchase schemes, including in Cork city, coming on stream in the coming weeks. That is very welcome. Private supply is increasing as well. We are investing in tackling voids. We had over 5,200 exits from homelessness over 2021.

Additional local authority homes are being brought on stream, with more than 6,000 delivered across 2020 and 2021 via the voids programme. A further 2,000 homes will be remediated this year.

I want to ask about the Government's plans to give €450 million in subsidies to developers. These subsidies will be used to build apartments that, according to an analysis by the Business Post, will only be affordable for people on the top 15% of incomes. In the Dáil and the national media, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has repeatedly stated that the subsidies will be going directly to homeowners and not to developers. This is simply not true. Documents published by the Housing Agency state clearly and unambiguously that these subsidies will be paid straight into the accounts of developers' solicitors. When the Cabinet signed off on this, were Ministers aware that these subsidies would be paid directly to developers or were they given the same incorrect information that the Dáil has been given? Were the Minister and his colleagues misled and told that the subsidies would be given to homeowners?

I thank the Deputy. This is one aspect of Housing For All. The starting point is to acknowledge that we have a problem in that we are not seeing build-for-sale apartments being built. We are not seeing them in Dublin to any great extent and we are not really seeing them elsewhere throughout the country to any extent at all. In my city of Cork, the last private sector development where apartments were built for sale was finished back in 2008. Since then, the only apartments built in the city were those built by local authorities or approved housing bodies, supported by the State. We have a problem. If we want to implement our national planning framework, if we want compact development and if we want all of these exciting, brownfield regeneration sites to be developed in our cities, we are going to have to do something. This initiative is designed to ensure that apartments are built for sale for owner-occupiers and will make the development of such apartments viable where that would otherwise not be the case.