Leis an Rialtas seo, tá praghsanna tithe imithe tríd an díon agus tá úinéireacht tí anois níos deacra agus níos deacra agus níos faide ar shiúl do ghlúnta ár ndaoine. Léirigh tuarascáil an lae inniu ó Chumann na Seirbhéirí Cairte go bhfuil ardú de bhreis is €90,000 tagtha ar chostais tithíochta nua i mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath amháin, ó tháinig an Rialtas in oifig trí bliana ó shin.

Today's report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland on the cost of new housing delivery lays bare the depths of the housing crisis. The cost of new-build homes has gone through the roof. In the greater Dublin area which includes Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, the average cost of a new-build home is now more than €461,000, an increase of €90,000 since you and your Government took office three years ago. Average earnings in Dublin alone are less than €37,000 which means that the vast majority of workers and families in the greater Dublin area have no chance, no hope, of being able to afford to purchase a new-build home under this Government. It also extends beyond Dublin. The average cost of a new home in Cork now stands at €433,000 and on it goes throughout the State.

This reflects the abject failure of the Government's housing plan because you have not turned a corner. As the prices of new builds go through the roof, housing is becoming less affordable year by year with workers and families locked out. That is why home ownership is falling under the Government. This comes just a week after we learned that new rents have soared by 12% in the past year with tenants now forking out an average of €4,000 more per year to their landlord since you took office three years ago. If we turn to the Government's record on delivery, on affordable purchase homes the results are equally damning with zero affordable homes delivered in 2020, zero affordable homes delivered in 2021, only 323 homes delivered in 2022 and only 101 affordable homes delivered in the first half of this year. Are they even affordable? In areas of south Dublin, the price of these affordable purchase homes range between €408,000 and €435,000.

Judging by this record it seems that everybody knows that we are in the grip of a housing crisis except this Government. Is it any wonder that the Banking and Payment Federation's latest mortgage report found that the average first-time buyer's age has risen to 35, the oldest since records began. Is it any wonder that home ownership is falling under your Government? Is it any wonder that generations of our people are losing hope and looking to build a life and future abroad?

Today's findings by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland lay bare the failure of this Government's housing policies. House prices continue to rise, homes are less affordable, rents continue to soar and home ownership is becoming more difficult, more distant and more expensive for an entire generation. What is the Minister's response to today's report? What responsibility does he take for this staggering rise in house costs? What is he going to do to change direction and deliver affordable homes for workers and families? This is happening on his watch. He is the Minister for housing who is overseeing the largest increases in rents since records began. House prices have gone up by €90,000 since he took office. In the greater Dublin area, a family now needs to have a joint income of €127,000 to be able to purchase a home. That is why homeownership is dropping under his Government. That is why his plan is failing. That is why people are giving up hope in him and his Government.

Anois, an fhírinne. Ar dtús, caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil ár bplean ag obair. Tá sé ag obair anois. Níl na buntáistí á fháil ag gach duine fós. Thógamar 30,000 teach nua anuraidh agus tá mé cinnte go mbeimid ábalta níos mó ná sin a dhéanamh i mbliana. Thógamar níos mó tithe sóisialta anuraidh ná mar a tógadh le 50 bliain. Arís, táim cinnte go mbeimid ábalta níos mó ná sin a dhéanamh i mbliana. Tá tithe ar phraghas réasúnta le ceannacht don chéad uair le cúig bliana déag anuas. Don chéad uair riamh, tá tithe á ligean ar cíos ar phraghas réasúnta tríd an cost-rental scheme, agus ceadaíodh morgáistí do níos mó ná 25,000 ceannaithe anuraidh freisin. Táim cinnte go mbeidh tuilleadh mar sin á dhéanamh againn i mbliana. Is é sin an fhírinne. Tá ár bplean Tithíocht do Chách ag obair. Níl plean ar bith ag Sinn Féin. Níl aon phlean ag Sinn Féin atá cosúil le Tithíocht do Chách. Táim cinnte go leanfaidh an dul chun cinn atá á dhéanamh i gcúrsaí tithíochta i mbliana agus le linn na bliana seo chugainn.

Regarding the SCSI report, Deputy Doherty neglected to say that the SCSI is very clear in its support for Government schemes like the First Home scheme, the help-to-buy grant and the development levy waiver to boost home ownership and reduce costs. I remind the Deputy that Sinn Féin is opposed to all three. His party is opposed to all of them. Potential first-time buyers watching in here today need to know that Sinn Féin does not want to give them back the €30,000 in tax they have earned to help towards the deposit. The thousands of people who have been approved under the First Home scheme, many of whom are renters stuck in a rental trap, also need to know that Deputy Doherty, his housing spokesperson and his whole party here are opposed to that - a scheme that is actually working.

The Deputy regularly comes here and rails against the Government. That is fine; that is his wont. However, as the main Opposition party, he has a responsibility to actually propose alternatives. We were waiting for his housing plan that Deputy Ó Broin said he would bring forward in July. He never brought it forward. Instead, a month after the budget he produced Sinn Féin's alternative budget. The alternative budget has two and a half pages committed to what it would do on housing. Sin é, two and a half pages and nothing else. Deputy Doherty may want to clarify this with his colleague next door to him.

Another way we are actually getting families into homes is by tackling vacancy and dereliction. An deontas folúntais, Croí Cónaithe, has had over 5,000 applications with nearly 3,000 approvals. Even though Sinn Féin Deputies come in and ask me to alter the scheme, Deputy Doherty's party opposes it. It made no provision whatsoever in its alternative budget for any funding whatsoever for that grant. He might inform the House today what his position is on that. I noted earlier this week on Tuesday night - maybe it was after the day that you had - that you have also now stopped talking about bringing back a moratorium on evictions. You have dropped that because you know the measures we have brought forward, like the tenant in situ scheme, are working. This is serious politics. Government is about implementing policy and making a difference for people.

I am not even going to respond-----

The Deputy cannot.

----- to all the misleading points the Minister has made because it is complete deflection. What I will respond to is him stating that his plan is working. I genuinely ask him or any of the those who were laughing and heckling there if they think it is working when we have seen the record level of rent increases - since records began - at 12%. Does he think it is working when house prices in the greater Dublin area have increased by €90,000 since you folk took office three years ago?

Does he think it is working for the renters who are struggling and who are now paying €4,000 more to their landlords every single year since the Government took office? Does he think it is working for the nearly 4,000 children who woke up in emergency accommodation today? I know where my party stands. I know where we stand. The Government’s plan is failing and failing dramatically.

Hear, hear.

Every bit of evidence shows it. What is the Minister going to do about the report that is published today? The report states very clearly that house prices in the greater Dublin area have increased by €90,000 since he became Minister for housing, over the past three years. It has told us clearly that to purchase a home, you need a joint income of €127,000-----

Time is up now, Deputy.

-----when the average income in Dublin is €37,000. What is the Minister going to do? He has no plan.

Time is up.

He has no ideas. He is out of ideas and he is out of time. That is the reality.