Months of Opposition pressure, public anger and protest yesterday dragged the Government kicking and screaming into bringing in a temporary eviction ban. According to the Government's interesting figures yesterday, as welcome as the belated ban is it still means that 2,273 people will face eviction after the ban ends, which means that the level of homelessness is likely to be up to 13,000 to 14,000 people. Of course, we all know that, in any event, those figures are an understatement.

Evictions and homelessness are the most horrible symptom of the deeper and more fundamental underlying failure of the Government to address the housing crisis and deliver the affordable and public housing we need to solve that crisis. The Central Bank decision to change mortgage rules is yet another symptom of that failure. We now risk repeating the mistakes of the Celtic tiger, saddling another generation of mortgage holders with potentially crippling debts, in particular if interest rates go up.

All of this speaks to a situation whereby people who need a home are caught in a vice grip of extortionate unaffordable rents and house prices and a chronic lack of public and affordable housing. What does the Government intend to do? In the interests of being constructive, just as we proposed the eviction ban I want to make some proposals about what the Government should do over the coming months. First, the State must buy up all the properties of landlords who are selling up and exiting the market. That deals with the problem of landlords exiting from rental properties. It should be a systematic policy.

I see that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is whispering to the Taoiseach that that is happening. Of all of the ones I have raised in my area, not a single property has yet got over the line. We want to see that happen. The State must buy up developer and investor properties to ensure that every new property that comes on the market is affordable. There is no point in developers delivering stuff that nobody can afford. The Government should buy up those properties. There should be an aggressive campaign to take vacant and derelict properties into use, including a punitive - the one introduced in the budget is not - vacant property tax that forces them in.

Private building is starting to slow down, therefore a State construction company should be established to equip and support local authorities to deliver public and affordable housing directly. Can we raise the income limits, something that has been promised for more than a year, so that all of those who cannot afford extortionate rents and house prices get the support of the State in being housed?

I have made it very clear, and I will say it again, that housing is the single most important social issue facing our society and country. In the past two years we have dedicated unprecedented financial resources to deal with housing. The fundamental approach has to be to increase supply. We have had to deal with Covid-19 and two lockdowns, which hit construction hard. We then had an exponential increase in prices brought about by the war in Ukraine and an inflationary cycle, all of which has dented confidence in builders and so on in terms of certainty for the future. We intervened very quickly in respect of public contracts and tendering to enable builders to have more confidence in tenders in order to try to stabilise the situation. That is the reality so far.

We will meet the target of about 25,000 houses his year, but we need far more than that. Supply is key. That means all of us have to be very focused on making sure all the projects that are developed, designed and brought to the planning stage are allowed through, unless they are horrendous altogether. By and large, we do not have the luxury of opposing projects because of their mix. The Deputy may not like private housing being mixed with sociable or affordable housing on public lands. In my view, we have to get houses built at a far faster rate than we are currently getting them built. There are issues we will deal with, such as the review of the planning code to make sure it is more streamlined and can facilitate not just housing but also infrastructure projects.

The State is buying properties that have been sold by landlords, where we have tenants on the housing assistance payment, HAP, or the rent accommodation scheme, RAS. The Minister has made it very clear to local authority managers that they may buy houses or apartments that are being sold and which are occupied by people on RAS or HAP. That funding is there for local authorities to use. Local authorities have to have some discretion. That is only sensible.

Also, 18,390 new social housing units have been added to the social housing stock under this Government up to quarter 2 of 2022. That includes 11,301 new builds. In addition to that, 6,000 social homes were brought back into us through the voids programme. Such houses were derelict or not refurbished and we moved very quickly to bring them back into the system. The same will happen with close to a further 2,500 homes in 2022. The State is the biggest actor in the housing market right now. It is intervening across the board.

The Deputy has asked for a national construction company.

Yes.

That would take another year and a bit to establish.

What?

It would take another year and a half to get it established and up and running. We have established the Land Development Agency through legislation, which is dealing with a lot of development, to try to get social and affordable, as well as other housing, going using State lands. We already have an agency as an engine to get housing built as fast as we possibly can.

According to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's figures, if it meets, or slightly exceeds, the target for social and affordable housing in my area there will be more people on the housing list in four years' time than there are now. That is how inadequate the policy is. We need additional measures beyond what the Government has done to date.

On the issue of buying properties, are rent supplements included in the HAP and RAS purchases? We need clarity on that. People who are over the threshold because they have not been raised are left in limbo if they are faced with eviction or are already homeless. Furthermore, there is planning permission already in existence for tens of thousands of units. Planning permission is not the problem. The problem is whether units are going to be built. It is looking like the private sector may not deliver them. Will they be affordable when they are built? There is no point in selling houses at extortionate prices and saddling people with huge debts or extortionate rents that people cannot afford. That is why we need a State construction company and for income limits to be raised. What about a serious vacant property tax to force the empty units back into use?

We will take measures to force vacant units back into use and, more important, to force zoned land into use. The Ministers for Finance and Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working on that specific point.

I agree additional measures will have to be taken, over and above what we have done. We are constantly at this in respect of adding capacity and trying to get more houses built, and that will continue. Income thresholds will be increased by the end of the year with regard to social housing. That will not increase supply. It will help people in certain circumstances to access social housing but it will not necessarily increase supply.

The LDA is working on private developments that are not taking off or starting with a view to going in itself and making sure that we can get them started and get houses built. That is happening and those engagements have started. Anywhere we can see opportunities to get houses built, we will get them built. We need everybody's co-operation from here on in. That is very important. I do not say it in any flippant or partisan way. It is just absolutely essential that we allow projects through and get them up and running.