The issue of affordable housing has been raised many times before in this House by me and others. The stark reality is that housing is not being delivered quickly enough for those who need it. The Minister's Government has placed a heavy emphasis on the delivery of social housing and that is only right and proper. There is another cohort of people who want to own their own home. They are the people who do not earn enough to get a mortgage from the banks to buy a house on the open market. These are the people who go to work every day, pay their taxes and make a big contribution to our society. They do not avail of any State support and feel they are being left behind and forgotten about. They are renting or staying with parents and they just cannot get on the property ladder because they cannot secure a house at an affordable rate. They are more than willing to pay for their home, but need the vital support that affordable housing schemes are supposed to provide.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage says that a total of 1,757 affordable homes were delivered in 2022, but of that total, almost 700 were cost rentals to families who will never own those houses. Thus, the real figure for people buying their own affordable home last year was less than 1,100. In my home county of Galway, just 21 families were able to buy their first home, all under the first home scheme. Six of them were in the city and 15 were in the county. There is no affordable housing scheme available in Galway at present. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has set a target for this year of delivering 5,500 affordable homes, but the Department warned at the start of the year that meeting this target was likely to prove challenging due to rising costs and supply chain issues. Where does this leave the people I spoke about at the outset, who are caught in the middle? These are the working people who are struggling to continue to pay for rented accommodation at exorbitant rates and struggling to find affordable accommodation. These people feel they are being forgotten about and left in limbo. I know of a number of sites in my constituency of Galway West that have been identified for the building of affordable housing, but there is little or no movement on getting them started. Will the Minister give a commitment that she and her colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, will take a more proactive role in getting these sites moving and get that much-needed affordable housing built for young couples who want to buy a house and call it their own?

It is important to say we want to do everything we can to make home ownership affordable for people, especially our young people. Housing for All provides funding and commits to delivering 36,000 affordable homes for purchase, as well as 18,000 cost-rental homes, until 2030. Those affordable homes are currently being delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the first home scheme and the Land Development Agency, LDA. With regard to the Deputy's county of Galway, Galway city and county councils published their housing delivery action plans in July 2022. These plans give a comprehensive overview of a projected delivery of affordable housing in Galway in the five-year period to 2026.

It should be said that local authority affordable purchase homes will be made available in Galway this year for the first time in a decade. Both Galway local authorities and the LDA are developing a pipeline of affordable housing delivery into the coming years.

We are making significant progress, but I agree with the Deputy that we need to do more. That is why just last month the Cabinet signed off on €1 billion worth of measures that will significantly increase the delivery of homes. For example, the Croí Cónaithe vacant property refurbishment grant scheme is being increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties. That really is a good scheme. I believe it will be a game-changer for towns and villages and, indeed, for rural areas. We are reducing the cost of construction by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water and other services. That will save up to the value of €12,650 per home on average. We are getting work started on thousands of affordable apartments to rent which have planning permission but which are in limbo. All of these measures will speed up construction immediately.

I thank the Minister for her response. No doubt she and the Government are committed to try and deliver social and affordable housing.

I should point out that some of the schemes in place at present to help first-time buyers are unlikely to benefit the people in the middle I have been talking about, especially those whose incomes are at the lower end of the scale. I mention the experience of people in my constituency. I want to know because there is a site in my area of Claregalway that is earmarked for affordable housing. No planning application has gone in for that yet and the local authority bought the site over three years ago. It is taking an extremely long time before a local authority applies for planning permission. By the time you buy the site and get the builder on board and building one is talking at least four or five years. That is taking too long.

The focus must be on getting movement on the building of affordable homes. The Government has a responsibility to ensure they are built, and built quickly. Speed is of the essence. While there are plans and targets, housing needs to be delivered more quickly. There are many people who desperately want to get a home of their own to raise a family and see affordable housing as the only opportunity to do so.

I agree with the Deputy. We need to make sure that these plans are moved on and the developments are commenced. I agree with that sentiment.

There have been issues with viability and the ability of developers to unlock private, social and affordable developments and I believe that the Government's waiving of the development levies for one year and the rebating of Irish Water connection charges will prove to be a game-changer in this regard.

As I mentioned earlier, the Croí Cónaithe scheme will be extremely useful in terms of people being able to acquire, perhaps an old family house that had gone into ruins. They may be able to get it at a reasonable price and be able to claim that grant to help them renovate it. That is important.

We also have the option of the first home scheme. It helps buyers bridge the gap between the mortgage that they qualify for and the cost of the house and that helps them to close the deal.

These are all different measures. They are working. We will continue to make sure that we deliver more houses.