Tá daoine ag cur síos ar an ngéarchéim tithíochta mar an tubaiste is mó inár n-am agus tá an ceart acu. Tá córas tithíochta tógtha ag Rialtas Fhine Gael agus Fhianna Fáil do na creach-chistí agus tá na gnáthdhaoine fágtha ar an leataobh. Tá iompar níos fearr tuillte ag daoine sa Phoblacht seo. Más Poblacht mar is ceart agus fíor í, ba chóir go dtiocfaidh na daoine ar dtús.

Minister, from the people in the street to the highest office in the land your housing crisis has been called out for the disaster and social catastrophe that it is. The truth is being spoken in a powerful way. The cynical Government efforts to shut down and shut up those who stand up for the people are disgraceful. The housing crisis is a decade of shame for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. It has defined life in Ireland for far too long. It has been profoundly damaging to the aspirations of an entire generation. This generation is locked out of home ownership. People are robbed of the ability to put an affordable roof over their heads. The housing crisis is without doubt the great failure of successive Governments. It is a sad reality that a home - a basic necessity of life – has become such a pipe dream for so many. This is not how things should be in a republic. The coalition came to office two years ago and promised it would fix housing. On the Minister’s watch however things have gone from bad to worse. People caught up in this crisis have had ringside seats as Government has recycled policies after policies that created the mess in the first place.

All the Government has to do is look at the facts. Rip-off rents continue to hit new record levels and the number of available properties has fallen to an all-time low. House prices have soared beyond the reach of ordinary workers and families. Homelessness has returned to pre-pandemic levels with more than 10,000 people in emergency accommodation. In the Ireland of 2022 children are growing up in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. This flies in the face of the shared values of the Irish people. It is the undeniable truth that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been the best voice in the class for the speculators. They have turned housing, which is a basic human right, into a cash cow for private interests chasing as much profit as they can get.

The policies of the Minister for Finance have always been about meeting the profit needs of the powerful developers, the landlords and the wealthy international investors and not the needs of ordinary families and workers. Look at how Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have just used big tax advantage to roll out the red carpet for the cuckoo funds to bulk buy family homes. Look at the litany of Government schemes that have lined the pockets of the speculators including the latest bonkers scheme where the Government gifts €450 million of taxpayers’ money to developers to build homes that ordinary families will never ever be able to afford. The charge being levelled at the Government is that it is a government of the top sticks. To underscore the Government’s failure this morning, the CSO published its figures which show house prices are out of control with property prices that have increased by 14.2% nationally in the past year.

Does the Minister now accept that the housing crisis is a disaster? Does he accept that the housing crisis is the great failure of his Government and successive Governments? Will he now finally change direction and build homes that ordinary people and workers can afford to live in?

This Government has always accepted that meeting the housing needs of our society is a critical challenge that we must rise to, not just for our society but for the families, households and tenants who are all affected by the challenge of not enough homes being available to buy and rents not being affordable. We accept this is a challenge to which we must rise and make progress on. It is not just our language that will make a difference, but our efforts. The efforts are showing clear signs of supply improving. It is only with more homes being built that we have the ability over time to see rents change and to make progress on affordability. While I appreciate at all times the need for us to do more to get more homes built as quickly as we can, the figures in regard to supply are equally clear. There have been 22,000 homes completed in our country over the past 12 months and 35,000 homes commenced. For 2021, 43,000 have received planning permission. They are just overall macro figures regarding what is happening in our economy, that is homes being built, houses and apartments, which are all about providing the additional supply which will make a difference to our country being able to ensure that we are delivering the homes that are needed for our people at the price levels we know are affordable. We know we have to make more progress and do more. That is why we have Housing for All. I reject entirely the image and the tone that Deputy Doherty has suggested here to the House in regard to the intentions of this Government. This Government is about delivering more homes for more people at different prices to meet the many needs we know exist within our society and our economy.

Housing for All involves spending of up to €4 billion per year to deliver the homes we know are needed, and yes, the Government believes that private supply has a role to play in delivering homes that are available to purchase for those who can afford to purchase them. We also believe social, affordable and cost-rental homes are an equally necessary part of the solution that has to be delivered. The progress we are looking to make on that is clear to see in the thousands of homes that are now being built throughout the country for social and public use. I can see it across the city of Dublin. In Dominick Street and in O’Devaney Gardens I can see hundreds of homes now being delivered in that part of our capital city alone to respond to the housing needs that the Government knows are there. That is why we have in Housing for All a plan that is not just looking to deliver this number of homes this year but is looking to deliver nearly 29,000 for next year and 30,000 homes per year for the years after that. Yes, all of us in government accept the need to make more progress. We understand the anxiety, stress and difficulty that this is causing to households all over our country. The figures are there in the more homes that are being completed, the more planning permissions that are coming through and the more commencements that are now under way underpinned by this Government through local authorities all over the length and breadth of our country building thousands of homes for public and social use to respond to the need that the Government accepts is there.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has been a Minister for nine years now. Let me give him one fact. For every single year that he has been a Minister the crisis has got worse.

Hear, hear.

House prices continue to rise every single year including this week, as he serves in office. Rents have continued to soar beyond the reach of any ordinary people. People are being charged €2,500 to rent in this city. What has happened is disgraceful, it is a social catastrophe. Those in the highest office were right to call out this Government in regard to the catastrophe that is being met by ordinary people and families. Homelessness is now at record levels. It has increased year on year under the Minister's watch, nine years as a Minister. He is the best boy in the class, he has led the charge for this Government and successive Governments in rolling out the red carpets, providing the tax incentives for those institutional investors that pay no tax on their rent, no capital gains tax, and charge some of the highest costed rent in this city and elsewhere. After nine years surely to God - he could forget about listening to me, listen to ordinary people, particularly that generation that has no hope in his Government to sort this - and actually change track.

Invest properly in social and affordable housing and cost-rental housing and listen to those on the ground and those in the highest office of the State.

I meet those people-----

The Minister might listen to them.

-----in the constituency I have the privilege of representing in this House, in my clinics and in the many engagements I have with those who are dealing with this challenge the Government knows is so real.

The Government created it.

This Government is building social and affordable housing all over the country through the local authorities. That is a reality that is now being delivered. New homes are being built through Dublin City Council and other local authorities the length and breadth of the country to respond to the need that is there.

It is the case that Deputy Doherty wants far more being built but he is against every measure that will deliver the homes for the communities he is making the case for. For example, the Land Development Agency, an agency the Deputy opposed in this House, is the same agency that has now submitted planning applications for 2,358 social and affordable homes in the city. I am certain that when those planning applications come forward they will be the same planning applications Sinn Féin will oppose. We, of course, accept the level of need that is there. We know more needs to be done but we are seeing more homes being built.

Deflection, deflection and more deflection.

The Minister has been saying the same thing for years.

That is vital over time to bringing rents and prices down.

Prices, rents and homelessness numbers are going up. Shame on the Government.

Please, Deputy.