I want to raise again the issue of the housing crisis, the crisis that our President has described as a disaster. Yesterday's Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report has confirmed yet again the scale of failure over successive years to ensure that people have adequate homes and the right to a home. Since this Government assumed office, rents have increased by 15%, house prices have risen by 22% and homelessness has increased by 19%. There are outrageous numbers of individuals and families on the homeless list. There are over 3,000 children, 1,366 families and over 5,000 single people on the list. There is an unacceptable level of homelessness and poverty in Ireland, a relatively wealthy country in the EU, in 2022. The ESRI has confirmed to us that an impending crisis for older people renting is also facing us. Renters can barely cover the cost of rent, let alone save up to buy a home or save up for retirement. While the Government's current strategy is predicated on an assumption that rental is short-term and that people will somehow morph into homeowners by the time they retire, we know that can no longer be assumed. We know that failures to deliver on housing and housing supply now means that many people will be renting into older age and will be continuing to pay unaffordable rents. Indeed, in my own constituency and that of the Minister, Dublin Bay South, there is a much higher level of households in the private rental sector than in other constituencies across the country. It is a particular issue there, with over 40% of households in the Dublin Bay South constituency renting. I am receiving, as I am sure the Minister is, more and more communications from older people who can no longer afford their rents, who are facing eviction, or who simply cannot find a place, let alone an affordable place to rent.

We have called for a radical shift in housing policy, for budget 2023 to deliver a drastic ramping-up of the building of social, affordable and cost-rental homes. We, and my colleague, Senator Moynihan, our housing spokesperson, have called for the Government to bring vacant homes back into use with a vacant property tax. Such a tax rate must also be accompanied by resources and proper enforcement measures. We need to see an increase in the percentage of Part V units for social and affordable housing. We have consistently called for a three-year rent freeze in order to see a reduction in evictions. That must be introduced. Targeted supports must also be provided for communities particularly at risk of homelessness. There must be an end to speculation and land hoarding. We need to see a referendum on the right to housing, something we have called for consistently. I ask the Minister to push, at Government level, to ensure that there is a radical shift in housing policy towards seeing a home as a right and towards delivering on a policy of reducing and eliminating homelessness in Ireland. Will the Minister push for that in budget 2023? It is an urgent issue for many households and families.

It is true. The Government has a range of work to do, but the three key objectives central to Government are addressing the housing crisis, reforming healthcare and advancing the opportunity we will get from taking climate change from going to the max in what we need to do. In housing, there is not just the Housing for All strategy, which I believe engages on and commits to many of the measures that the Deputy has just mentioned. There is also the national development plan. The clear commitment among every Government Department is that housing comes first, it gets the largest allocation and it is the critical area in which we have to spend up to €4 billion a year. The Deputy mentioned a referendum on the right to housing and various other measures. I think this week the Housing Commission initiated its public consultation on how such a referendum might be framed. As a country, we have learned that referendums require us to think about the question that is being asked and the wording of it. The Deputy called for the introduction of a vacant property tax. Yesterday, the Minister for Finance committed to introduce such a tax, as well as a zoned land tax for land that is not being used. That has been committed to. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be discussing the shared equity scheme today, perhaps even as we speak. It is one of a series of measures that we need to introduce in the area of affordable housing.

I agree with the Deputy that cost-rental housing is central and key to delivering affordable housing. The Housing for All plan commits to the provision of 18,000 cost-rental homes, and to go further if we can. We will work with the Land Development Agency, LDA, on the matter. I agree that the situation can be frustrating. A lot of the time we would like to see things done faster. Many of the developments for which planning applications have been approved are not being built. In Dublin city, for example, the real question is where the housing is being built. A lot of the housing is being built in the peripheral counties around Dublin. Not enough housing is going into Cork city, Limerick city, Galway city, Waterford city and Dublin city. Houses need to go back into the city centres. We have to think about where we are building houses, as well as how many. On the plan to move towards delivering 33,000 houses per annum, which we must do, the latest analysis presented to me shows that this year we will be on target. It is expected that 25,000 houses will be completed this year. It is never going to be enough, but we are on track to deliver what we committed to do. I do not disagree with the points the Deputy raised. I think the real job is ensuring that we accelerate the programme now. I do not believe there is a huge difference in the policies. It is about delivering them. The Minister for Finance announced measures yesterday and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is announcing measures today. I could list a number of other occasions where the Government is acting.

I agree with the Minister. It is about delivery. In fact, in this case it is about the lack of delivery. What I am hearing from renters or those aspiring to own a home but who cannot do so, and indeed from people who are seeking to build homes to deliver on housing, is that there is a lack of delivery and urgency in delivery by Government. Certainly, very welcome measures have been announced by Government. However, what is so frustrating for people is that we have not seen the impact of those measures. There has been no outcome in terms of the supply of homes available to people who need them now. Each number on the homeless list represents a person who is looking for a home, but who cannot currently be housed and has not yet felt the impact of housing policies that have been announced. We have not seen the urgency and delivery of policies. We in Labour have sought to put forward constructive measures, such as our renters' rights Bill and Senator Moynihan's idea of a rent-to-buy scheme to convert rent paid on a property over three years into a deposit for a property for individuals. The measures we have proposed are constructive. We brought forward a homeless families Bill to prevent the risk of child poverty and child homelessness. We need to see more concerted action. We need delivery and outcomes from Government on this.

Some of the affordable purchase schemes that have been introduced have some of the characteristics of what I understand Senator Moynihan was proposing with her Bill. Under the shared equity scheme, part of the equity can be bought back by the State. We need those schemes. We are starting. Progress on the delivery of cost-rental housing in Shanganagh is slower than I would like, but the work is starting. There are practical examples of work being done in Enniskerry and Shanganagh. I have been engaging with different councils around the country. We also need local authorities to start picking up on that opportunity and to start working with the LDA at greater speed. The Colbert Station Quarter project is under way. It is at planning stage and preparations for the development are being made. As I understand it, the project could be transformative. It is a good example of what we need to do with city housing. The Deputy is correct, and I agree with the ESRI analysis, that there is an older age cohort that is worrying about how they will continue renting. However, we are starting to deliver. The 25,000 homes that will be delivered are real.