A Banking & Payments Federation report reveals that the average income now of first-time buyer families is €90,000, a shocking figure in light of the average wage in the State. I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, talk about affordable housing. I have to hand a copy of the report from last year for all local authorities. Seven out of 31 local authorities delivered affordable housing and seven out of 31 delivered cost rental. The Government is not serious here. There are no plans to build affordable housing in huge numbers of local authority areas throughout the State, yet a family have to earn €90,000 to be a first-time buyer. The Government needs to cop itself on and get a grip on this. There has to be a plan for affordable housing and cost rental in this State so that families who are working hard can hope to have a roof over their heads.

I thank the Deputy. I saw that figure too.

An average family buying a house now has an income of about €90,000. The Deputy asked if I knew what the average income for somebody working in Ireland is now. It is €50,000 for an individual so an average income for two people working full-time would be €100,000. Those are the numbers. We are now seeing over 400 first-time buyers every week. It is the highest level since the Celtic tiger period. That figure is probably an underestimate because it counts couples as one. It is really encouraging that we are seeing very large numbers of first-time buyers and I want to see that increase. The Government is helping. We have, for example, an affordable housing programme for local authorities. We also have the first home scheme which can be particularly helpful because it allows people to bridge the gap between the mortgage they can get and the house they want to buy. We also have the help to buy scheme which helps people get their deposit. Let us not forget that the Deputy's party wants to take all of that away.