Inné, chuir an Phríomh-Oifig Staidrimh níos mó drochscéil ar fáil d'oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh atá ag iarraidh dul ar an dréimire tithíochta. Tá praghsanna tithíochta anois níos airde ná mar a bhí siad le linn am an tíogair Cheiltigh. Is sampla eile é seo den teip ar phlean tithíochta an Rialtais. Ní thiocfaidh deireadh leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta seo go dtí go mbeidh athrú polasaí agus athrú rialtais ann. Yesterday, the CSO published a report on property prices. It contains more bad news for workers and families looking to buy a home, with many of them now desperate for somewhere to call a home that is affordable. Today, we have reached a new milestone. House prices are now higher than they were during the Celtic tiger era. Spiralling house prices confirm that the Government's housing plan is failing. Homeownership, the dream of many Irish families, is in decline, and all on the watch of this Government. The consequence of all this is that too many people are being forced into an expensive and insecure private rental sector that does not meet their needs. It is a vicious spiral.

The only way this housing crisis is going to be brought to an end is with a general election, a change of government and a change of housing plan. I say this because all the evidence shows that the Government's policies are making things worse. The affordable housing targets are pathetically low, and even these low targets are not being met. Does the Tánaiste agree that the Government has failed to meet its affordable housing targets every year, in 2020, in 2021 and in 2022? It seems that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is so embarrassed by his own failures in terms of affordable housing that he is refusing to publish the number of affordable homes delivered last year. We still do not have those figures.

It is a fact that many of these homes being delivered are not affordable in the first instance for most workers and families. Let us not pretend, then, that affordable homes, with all-in costs of €435,000 in parts of Dublin, are somehow affordable for ordinary workers and families, because they simply are not. It is time for a change of direction. What we need is a plan that meets the scale of the challenge we face, and Sinn Féin has this plan. Capacity, pace and affordability are key, but so is political wiliingess. Political priority is key here. In our engagement with builders, approved housing bodies and other players in the market, they are all telling us the same thing, which is that there is capacity to do more with proper State support.

If it is not the number one priority for the Government, then the housing crisis is going to continue as it has done every year during this Government's term. It has been four years since the general election. Is it not fair to say that when we measure the performance of the Government against house prices, rent, homelessness and homeownership, it has not just failed but failed spectacularly? We have an entire generation the length and breadth of this State locked out of homeownership and losing all hope of having a future in this country. This is the reality. I am sure the Tánaiste has met these people as much as I have. They are leaving in their droves for London, Canada and the US. Many of them are now going to Australia.

I ask the Tánaiste to answer these questions honestly. Does he accept that his Government has missed its affordable housing targets every year since it entered office? It is a fact. Does the Tánaiste accept it? Does he accept that runaway house prices, even surpassing those reached in the Celtic tiger era, are locking entire generations out of homeownership? Does he also accept it is now time for a plan that will deliver affordable housing at scale and where homes will be genuinely affordable for ordinary workers and families? This is something the Government has failed to produce up until now.

Ar dtús báire, ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta Dála. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil dul chun cinn le feiscint ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta sa tír seo. Gan amhras, is í seo an fhadhb is mó atá againn sa tír faoi láthair. Is í an aidhm is mó atá ag an Rialtas ná níos mó tithe a thógáil agus a chruthú agus níos mó cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine atá ag iarraidh a gcéad teach a cheannach. Tá figiúirí ann a léiríonn go bhfuil an-chuid scéimeanna agus áiseanna ann anois chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine.

I disagree entirely with the Deputy's presentation. In the first instance, I noted the complete absence in his contribution of any reference to social housing at all. Politically, I understand why he is doing that, of course. He is approximating to dissent, because he does not really want change or he is not radically approaching the issue at all.

The reason I say that is that, of course, the Deputy did not wish to highlight that between 2022 and 2023 up to 22,000 social houses have been delivered by this Government. This is a record high, and about 26,000 more social homes are in the pipeline.

On the affordable aspect, the Deputy spoke about change. Sinn Féin's change would be a change for the worse. Why do I say this? It is because in the alternative Sinn Féin budget, which was published, it was proposed to abolish the help-to-buy scheme, which has supported more than 40,000 home buyers. The Deputy's party would get rid of that support for affordability to enable young people to afford to buy their first home. The party would also scrap the first homes scheme, which gives up to 30% in equity share in new properties and enables people to be able to buy their homes. The State will take an equity share of up to 30% in this context. There have been 2,600 approvals already under that scheme in just over one year. Sinn Féin, though, would again scrap this measure. It would also eliminate the new vacant and derelict property grants of €70,000, for which more than 4,500 applications have already been submitted and 200 approvals to date. Equally, significant supports for affordable housing would be scrapped in the party's budget, amounting to up to €260 million.

That is what the party has proposed. The issue is that Sinn Féin does not have a plan. It has a few pages stitched together, as in the party's housing policy budget, which we have read. The party would scrap support for homeownership. It would increase taxes on inheriting the family home by a substantial amount, close to €36,000 on the average family home. It would scrap the support. It would also then, as I said, abolish the key schemes that give real support to young people who wish to buy their first homes. Some 550 first-time buyers are now buying homes each week. Mortgage drawdowns for first-time buyers have reached a new peak, with there having been about 26,000 in 2022. This is the highest annual level since 2007, which the Deputy did not acknowledge. We have also expanded the help-to-buy scheme.

We want to do more and we have to do more given the population increase and the scale of the challenges out there. We have substance in our planning, however. We are not opposing projects like the development at the Oscar Traynor site, which Sinn Féin did, or at Ballymastone or other big projects that would have delivered social and affordable housing much faster if it were not for all the prevarication you people engaged in on the councils, especially in Dublin. The Deputy's party just has sound bites. It has only about four or five pages of a plan. That is all it has. It keeps talking about change. It is a great sound bite. The oldest sound bite in elections is "Vote for change".

I warn people not to vote for the abolition of the help-to-buy scheme, the derelict house grant-----

The Tánaiste is electioneering now, is he?

-----the first homes scheme and key supports for first-time buyers in this country who want to own their own homes.

One thing is clear: we will get no change from the Tánaiste. In fairness he is consistent because the last time he was in government, that Government drove house prices off a cliff. Having been in for the last four years this Government has even surpassed the Celtic tiger period. The Tánaiste talked about sound bites. It is not a sound bite to say that house prices are running away. It is not a sound bite for the 21,000 people who packed their bags and decided to go to Australia because they felt they had no hope in this country anymore. It is not a sound bite to point out the reality that an entire generation is locked out of home ownership. It is not a sound bite to point out all of the measurements of runaway house prices, rents never as high, homelessness and child homelessness never as high in the history the State, and homeownership declining. That is the result of the Government's policies. Ministers may go into conclave, pat themselves on the back and think they are doing great job. They are not. There is a housing disaster in this country under this Government's watch and people can no longer afford Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil policy that pushes up house prices and fails to deliver on their own plans of delivering affordable housing.

I note that the Tánaiste did not answer one of my questions. Does he accept that the Government missed the targets every single year that he has been in government? Does he accept that runaway house prices are locking out an entire generation? Does he accept that we need a new plan because we cannot afford prices continuing to go up this way? We cannot afford rents continuing to spiral. We cannot afford having more children in emergency accommodation. We cannot afford house ownership to decline as is happening under his watch.

Where the hell is Sinn Féin's plan? It has produced nothing in four years other than three pages on housing in a 52-page budget document. Where is Sinn Féin's plan? The Deputy is all sound, noise and fury with no substance on any of this. Some 33,000 houses were built last year, which is in excess of the target set in Housing for All. In 2022 it was 29,500, in excess of the target set in Housing for All.

What about affordable housing?

The targets are being exceeded. The Deputy has a responsibility. We understand that housing is the biggest issue facing families across this country. We have never hidden that reality. Our population is increasing and there are challenges out there. However, the supports we put in place are enabling young people to buy houses in this country at levels that were not seen before. We want to do more, of course, we do. The Deputy has not responded to the assertions that I have made.

We have a plan there. It is called social and affordable housing.

There is no plan to help young people.

This is supposed to be questions to the Taoiseach, not questions to the Opposition.

Please-----

Sinn Féin's plan is to abolish supports for first-time buyers and undermine their capacity to afford new houses.

I thank the Tánaiste.

That is the essence of Sinn Féin's three-pager in its 52-page budget document. The Deputy is all bluster and no substance.

There is no substance from the Tánaiste and no answers either.

This is becoming a regular routine on a Thursday.

It is supposed to be questions to the Taoiseach and not questions to the Opposition.

Can we just behave in a slightly orderly way, please?