This is the final opportunity I will have to ask the Tánaiste questions before the Dáil rises for the recess. I want to ask the Tánaiste about housing. The Dáil may be going into recess for two months but there will be no break in the number of evictions, no break in the number of notices to quit that are sent, and no break in the number of men, women and children who are made homeless every day. There will be no break in the stress for those people currently wondering how they can continue to keep the roof over their head and pay record rents in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. There will be no break for the hundreds of thousands of young people who are wondering when they will be able to afford to move out of their parents' homes. There will be no break from the fear, anxiety and trauma that comes from being affected in this housing crisis.

People are living with constant dread and fear because of the Government's failure on housing. There are record rents, record house prices, record levels of homelessness and record levels of young adults living in their childhood bedrooms. It does not have to be like this. There are things the Government could be doing differently. The very first thing it could do is reinstate the no-fault eviction ban and at least try to ensure that no-one else becomes homeless this year. Second, the Government could be doing so much more to tackle the enormous levels of vacancy. In every single town, village and city across the country there are boarded up and vacant homes. To feign an attempt to address this the Government introduced a vacancy tax this year, but set it to just 0.1% of the value of a home. It is pathetic. The Government could immediately increase that too.

Then there is the issue of delivering affordable homes. The Government only managed 323 affordable homes out of a target of 4,000 last year. As the Tánaiste is aware, affordable homes are key to addressing this crisis. We know it can be done. The Ó Cualann housing alliance has an excellent track record. It has not been given the support it needs to really ramp up supply.

I have three questions for the Tánaiste. In the Housing For All progress report this week, there was no mention of how many affordable homes have been delivered this year. Why not? What is the figure? The Government failed to spend €1 billion of the housing budget last year. Has it managed to spend this year's budget? Homelessness has relentlessly increased for 16 of the past 17 months. Will the Tánaiste reinstate the no-fault eviction ban?

With respect the Deputy she has been very short with proposals or options for the housing supply side. She has not put anything forward. There will be no break in house building. There are record levels of house building going on right now. If the Deputy had read the progress report this was very clear. Last year 30,000 houses were built. This is a 45% increase on 2021. We need balance in the debate and I respectfully ask that there would be some acknowledgement at least of the progress in house building and supply. Some 25,000 first-time buyers drew down mortgages in 2022. This is the highest number since 2008. There were 6,716 new dwelling completions in the first quarter. We are having record levels of completions and record levels of commencements. This is 19% up on the first quarter of 2022. In the year to April 2023 some 50,000 homes were purchased by households. Of those, 17,000 were purchased by first-time buyers. In 2023 there has been a strong uptake in commencements, with 28,000 homes commenced in the year to May 2023, and 13,000 of those were in January to May. This is the highest level of commencements for this period since records began in 2014. The Government will continue to implement different measures. In social housing, for example, which the Deputy did not reference at all, we have seen the highest level of delivery since 1975 with more than 10,000 social homes delivered between new builds, acquisitions and leasing. If we take the housing assistance payment for rental accommodation this is 20,000 additional households that had their social housing needs met in 2022. There is also a strong pipeline of about 19,000 social homes either onsite or at design and tender stages. Again, in 2023 funding is in place to deliver nearly 12,000 social homes, including 9,100 new-build homes. Therefore, 26,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock under this Government up to Q4 of last year. This is very significant progress.

There are also the first-time buyers' supports, which perhaps the Deputy does not agree with, such as the help to buy scheme and the first home schemes. These are having a real impact on the affordability for young people to be in a position to buy homes. There were 38,000 first-time buyers that have now been assisted with the help to buy scheme. The evidence is strong. On cost rental homes, there have been significant developments. It is, in essence, a new model, with 700 cost rental homes delivered in 2022. The new cost-rental subsidy will now improve the viability of apartment development in urban areas and will deliver more cost rental homes.

With regard to the eviction ban, it is our view that this would have made the situation worse in the rental market. The intervention of the various initiatives the Minister has taken, and the in situ tenant purchase scheme in particular, have been very impactful in the context of the numbers who are facing eviction. The local authorities are now in the process of buying the houses for the tenants so they can stay in their homes.

It is not a surprise that the Tánaiste rejects my criticisms on housing. We are all used to witnessing this kind of denial from the Government now. To say that I have not given any solutions is something we hear on a regular basis. Obviously in this Leaders' Questions slot I cannot give every single solution to the housing crisis. In my contribution I mentioned three things that could be done on vacancies, on the eviction ban and on affordable homes. It is clear the Tánaiste will never listen to the Opposition on these issues, or will only highlight something that has not been mentioned in the short speaking slot that I have.

What does the Tánaiste have to say to IBEC? It can hardly be described as Government critics or as housing activists or as some sort of left-wing fire brands and yet housing is now one of its main concerns. IBEC has said the State is losing out on new investment and new business because of housing constraints. In other words, there is nowhere for workers to live. IBEC, as a business lobby group, is highlighting the concerns of businesses. Unfortunately, there is no lobby group for children growing up in homelessness, or for young adults living in their childhood bedrooms, or for families who have lost hope of ever owning a modest home. Is this why they are so far down on Government priority lists?

The Tánaiste claims to have turned a corner on housing. Everything in his speech would swear that everything is rosy. Does this mean that for the first time the Government will actually deliver its targets on affordable homes? Does it mean the Government will spend its budget? What on earth does it actually mean for people who are looking at a notice to quit, who are facing homelessness and who are stuck in their childhood bedrooms?

The most effective advocates for housing should be in this House. No one should be depending on any lobby group. I do not depend on IBEC to tell me that housing is the biggest crisis in this country. I have said this from day one since I came into Government. On coming into Government I was adamant that a member of our party would become the Minister responsible for housing, to take on the challenge and to build greater progress.

The Government is not hitting its targets or spending its budget.

We have reached our target and have exceeded our target in house building but-----

It has built 323 affordable homes out of a target of 4,000.

-----it is not enough and we need more housing. The problem, I respectfully suggest, is that the propositions the Deputy brings would actually reduce the supply.

That is the challenge. All of the Deputy's approach-----

How would spending your budget reduce the supply?

-----over the last two and half years has been against measures that would increase supply and has been about the introduction of measures that would reduce supply. That is a fundamental problem in terms of the Deputy's policy proposition.

Spend your budget to build affordable homes and increase the supply.

I thank the Tánaiste. The time is up.

We are committed to social housing and affordable housing, and on the vacancy, the Deputy knows the Croí Cónaithe grants have been increased from €50,000 to €70,000-----

Some 323 affordable homes last years.

There is also the new revolving funding of €150 million. Therefore, for the first time in a long time, there is a focused, targeted and well-resourced programme on vacancy and dereliction. The Deputy should at least acknowledge that, but there we are.