There are too many aspects to count in this Government's failure to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Possibly, the worst of them all is the really catastrophic failure of the Government to deal with the housing crisis that is gripping this country. It is a housing "disaster", as Fr. Peter McVerry rightly put it. That failure means that we now have more than 10,300 families, including more than 3,000 children, who are homeless. There are 120,000 families and households waiting on various housing lists. We also have the vast majority of young and middle-aged working people who simply cannot afford the housing costs they face.

Today we have had further evidence, in a report produced by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, that this housing crisis is inflicting incredible hardship on people now, being unable to pay the rents being charged and being unable to purchase homes. Moreover, the ESRI is now warning that the current generation of young workers and middle-aged workers are going to be put in a far worse position when they reach pension age than the generations before them. Even though the Government says it is in favour of home ownership, such are the house prices now that huge numbers of people will never ever be able to own their own home. The Government's own housing needs assessment for my area suggests that of the new households to be formed from now on, nobody in my area will be able to afford the house prices. Nobody. This means people will be prey to and trapped in a rental market when they become pensioners. When their income drops, they will be prey to the insecure possibility, even as pensioners, that they could be evicted.

This all comes on top of another ESRI report from just one month ago that stated the number of households in need of support from the Government to provide them with accommodation has increased massively, while the actual level of support has dropped. Whereas 47% of people used to get social housing eligibility or support, this has dropped to 33%, which is a massive stealth cut in housing support made available by the Government. Since last December the Government has sat on a report about raising the income threshold and has refused, despite promises, to give us the outcome of that report. What is the Government going to do in response to the ESRI reports? The ESRI is a Government-funded body. Will the Government listen to it? Will the Government immediately raise income thresholds for social housing support?

The Deputy's time is up.

Will the Government finally bring in some rent controls to control rents so they are affordable? Will the Government start to deliver the social and affordable housing that means people who are working and struggling can afford a secure and affordable roof over their head?

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. As a Government, we do fund the ESRI, which does outstanding work. It is important that we have bodies such as the ESRI providing an independent analysis of what the Government is doing about the challenges we face as a country, and we take the output from the ESRI very seriously. The report's key conclusion is that interventions, including increased supply, increased direct provision of social housing, and measures that develop alternative non-market rental cohorts, such as cost rental, will be critical to lowering housing costs for future cohorts. I make the case that we as a Government are pursuing aggressively all of those avenues through the Housing For All plan. We are the Government that is prioritising home ownership. We are introducing new affordable housing initiatives. We will have the launch of the new shared equity first home scheme imminently by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. This will provide an opportunity for a lot of people to bridge the gap between what they can currently afford to borrow under market prudential rules and the amount they must pay for a home at this time. It seems to be only the Deputies on this side of the House who see this as an issue and want to help individuals and couples in that situation. In addition, the Land Development Agency, LDA, through its Project Tosaigh is identifying opportunities for development of social housing, cost rental housing, and affordable housing. They are moving on site across the country across a range of different schemes.

We also recognise the importance of the fresh start principle, that there are many people who have gone through a divorce or legal separation or who have perhaps lost their home because of bankruptcy or an insolvency procedure. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has adopted this principle so that all of the affordable housing initiatives the Government is rolling out, and the local authority loan scheme that has been approved, are to be made available to people who need that second chance to purchase a home as well.

We are in the middle of the largest public housing programme in the history of the State. This is what the Government is doing. We have committed €4 billion of capital every single year for the next number of years to make sure that we increase the supply of all types of homes, but especially public housing and social housing, whether it is delivered by local authorities or by approved housing bodies. For the first time ever, cost rental housing is now coming on stream in Ireland. For the first time ever, affordable housing is now directly enshrined in stand-alone legislation, which only the Government parties in this House supported. We want to get away from the short-term rental supports. I agree with the Deputy on that point. When I look at what we are paying in housing assistance payments, HAP, which is a €585 million in the budget this year, with the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, costing €133 million and rent supplement costing €80 million, the best way to get away from that is to build homes for our people and that is what this Government is focused on doing.

Why has the Government not announced the details of the review on the income eligibility thresholds for social housing and social housing support, despite a promise that this would be done before the summer recess? I will tell the House why. It is because the Government is terrified of what it will show about social housing need in this country and the cost to the State. The LDA has been in existence for four years with not one single social or affordable house delivered. I repeat, it is not one single house from the LDA. The first one that will be delivered in my area is not due until 2024. Average house prices in Dublin are €509,000. One would need a salary of €150,000 per year in order to get a mortgage on a property like that. The Government's affordable housing schemes are linked to a discount on that absolutely obscene price. In my area, average house prices are €700,000. A whole future generation of young people and working people will never be able to own their own home and will be prey to obscene rents that are being charged of €2,000 and €2,200 per month.

Please, the Deputy's time is up.

They will never be able to save and they will never be able to aspire to owning their own home. The Government has failed them completely and it will not even give these people eligibility for social housing support. It is obscene.

All of the Government’s interventions help people to buy a home. The Deputy has opposed and stood against all of the policy decisions and legislation that the Government has brought forward to support people to buy a home, whether it be the help to buy scheme, the setting up of the Land Development Agency, which had to be put on a statutory footing-----

Which has not delivered one house in four years - not one.

It is now on a statutory footing and Government has approved Shanganagh, for example, which will provide almost 600 homes.

The first house, six years later.

The Deputy has opposed all of the affordable housing initiatives, including the shared-equity first home scheme. He is great at the rhetoric. He comes in here and talks about helping people to buy a home.

How much will the affordable homes cost in Shanganagh?

Deputy, please do not interrupt.

Every time the Government makes an intervention to assist people to buy a home, the Deputy stands against it. That is the reality. This is the only way of addressing this massive challenge that we face as a country. We acknowledge that for many people, home ownership now seems to be out of reach. We have to address that and bridge that gap. We do that through a massive public capital investment programme led by the State. The State is now leading on the housing market. This Government will stand behind that and make sure it is fully funded and delivered for the remainder of our term.