At a Fine Gael press conference, the Taoiseach told reporters that as he canvasses around the country, he has heard too many examples of the bulk-buying of homes by wealthy property funds, but, of course, he already knew this was happening and that it is not happening by accident. Property funds bulk-buying family homes is a direct result of Government policy. Over a decade ago, Fine Gael rolled out the red carpet for these funds with sweetheart tax deals, and it has renewed that policy year after year, choosing repeatedly to value the interests of vulture funds over those of ordinary people looking to buy a home. That is exactly why these funds can push ordinary homebuyers out of the market and then rent these homes back to the same families at rip-off rents.

The stories of property funds snapping up family homes have hit the headlines over and over again. I have lost count of the number of times we have raised this greedy and damaging practice with the Government, so the Taoiseach should not have to go out on a canvass to be told how bad it is out there. He will recall that in January, a British fund bought up 46 of 54 homes in a new estate in Balgriffin. It then put these homes up for rent for extortionate rents of up to €3,000 a month, and this was not a once-off. According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, over 4,200 homes were bought up by funds in 2021 and 2022 alone, and the Government's response to this has really been no response at all. New figures show the 10% stamp duty it introduced on bulk-buying of homes is failing. Since it introduced this measure, funds have snapped up hundreds of homes that should be available to workers and families. Far from being deterred, property funds, vulture funds, were, in fact, emboldened. Bulk-buying actually increased in the years after the Government introduced this measure. They know they can offset the stamp duty by charging sky-high rents.

After backing the property funds to the hilt and now, two weeks before an election, the Taoiseach says there are too many examples of funds buying up family homes. He also said he wants a review. The Taoiseach must think people have very short memories. The Government has had chance after chance to stop these funds in their tracks. When it introduced the 10% stamp duty, we told it that it was too low to act as a deterrent, but it did not listen. Four months ago, following the fiasco in Balgriffin, we brought forward a motion to stop property funds bulk-purchasing family homes but the Government voted it down, and we have repeatedly called on the Government to increase the stamp duty on bulk purchase to a level that will actually work. Only last week, however, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, told my colleague Pearse Doherty that he has no plans to increase the rate of stamp duty that vulture funds are charged for buying up homes, so that is the hard reality.

Tá cistí maoine saibhre fós ag ceannach tithe teaghlaigh ó shrón na ngnáthcheannaitheoirí tí. Ní mór don Rialtas anois rud éigin suntasach a dhéanamh faoi seo agus is é sin an rud atá daoine ag iarraidh.

The Taoiseach is talking about a review. I think that is simply spoof and spin. He might like to tell us what level of stamp duty he proposes as a deterrent, since his 10% is clearly failing.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to expand on this important issue because it is always important when it comes to housing - one of the biggest intergenerational challenges of our time - that the Government is willing to listen and to respond. Something we did not hear from the previous speaker is that we live in a country where every working day, we see so many homes being built, where so far this year every working day we see around 350 new homes being built and where every week around 500 young people and couples are buying their first home. It is a country where this year so far, more than 32,000 homes have commenced construction. Almost as many homes have commenced construction this year as did for the totality of the previous year. That is real progress that gives people who want to move out of the box room in their parent's house, and indeed parents who want their adult child to move out of the box room, real hope as well.

The issue of the bulk-buying and bulk-purchasing of houses is an issue I want to see further action on. As I said previously, it is clear from the Housing Commission report - which the Deputy lauded in the House last week before having an opportunity to read it - that we need both private and public investment in order to add to our housing stock. Even within that context, we cannot have a situation where the bulk purchase of homes needed for first-time buyers is allowed to continue unimpeded. The Government has already acted and it is important to acknowledge that. This is something that, again, did not get mentioned in the previous three minutes. The Government has already put in place both tax measures and planning measures to try to address this issue.

I am very clear; I want to take further measures. Just to be clear, that is exactly how I voted in the Dáil in January. It is exactly how Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party TDs voted in the Dail in January. When we voted, it was not to vote down the Deputy's motion, we voted for our motion. Our motion clearly said that the Government is committed to ensuring that newly-built houses are available to first-time buyers and owner-occupiers and that the Government will continue to examine how best we can achieve this. Therefore, the Government did not vote in the way the Deputy likes to describe.

My party, at our Ard-Fheis in recent weeks, also passed a motion calling on this party and me as its new leader to take further action in this situation as well. To be clear, it is Government policy to prevent the bulk purchasing of houses. The Government has already introduced a higher rate of stamp duty and we have already introduced new planning rules. The Government continuously monitors the situation to see if more needs to be done.

For some context, the higher stamp duty rate has applied to less than 1% of residential property transactions between May 2021 and the end of 2023. We also saw the Minister for housing introduce section 28 guidelines in 2021. This aims to provide an owner-occupier guarantee by ensuring that new own-door houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost-rental. What the figures already show is that the introduction of these guidelines to December 2023 has resulted in more than 40,000 homes granted planning permission with conditions prohibiting the bulk purchase by or multiple sale to a single purchaser. The Government has acted, it will take further action, but let us not misrepresent the Government's position at all. I know why the Deputy wishes to distract from the positive housing figures we have seen because the Deputy has never seen a challenge she does not wish to exploit, misinform or misdirect people on.

Yes, absolutely

I am astonished therefore. If what the Taoiseach is saying is accurate why is it that out on the canvass the Taoiseach hears so much about this?

That is not accurate.

If the Government's response has been so effective, how is it that the Taoiseach hears these accounts of vulture funds snatching up family homes when out on the canvass?

Hear, hear.

Are the people on the ground wrong as well? We live in a country where we have sky-high housing prices, sky-high rents, and record homelessness. Young people and their parents are frankly in despair. The Government's housing policy is not working and the Taoiseach should do a little bit more canvassing if he doubts me-----

In Boston.

-----and he will find that I am reflecting the truth on the ground to him. The Government introduced the 10% stamp duty and, in fact, far from the number of bulk purchases falling, it actually accelerated year on year. I have the figures to hand. They were given to me by my colleague, Deputy Doherty, who received them by means of a response to a parliamentary question. The number of bulk purchases has trebled, quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. The Taoiseach said he wants a review and he wants to take further action. Here is an action the Government needs to take. A stamp duty rate of 10% is not a deterrent. What level will the Government set the stamp duty at to be a real deterrent and stop these vulture funds in their tracks?

Hear, hear.

It is entirely possible, although it might be a new one on Deputy McDonald, to be able to report progress in an area of societal challenge and still wish to do more in that area. I travel around the country, as I am sure does the Deputy, most of the time anyway. As she travels around the country, I am sure she sees plenty of examples of new homes being built. I am sure she knocks on the doors of people who have moved into new homes. I am sure she probably meets hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have benefited from schemes that for some bizarre reason she is against. Any first-time buyer watching this debate today, or the parent of a first-time buyer who has availed of the help to buy scheme, which the Deputy would abolish, whereby they get thousands of euro of their own money back, knows they would not have been able to save for a deposit without that scheme.

As I travel around the country, I see lots of progress when it comes to housing. I now know that there are 350 new homes being built in this country every single working day. Five hundred people a week are buying their first home. More than 32,000 homes have been built already.

There are 4,000 children homeless.

We still wish to do more. Fewer than 1% of residential property transactions saw the higher rate of stamp duty. I want to see more. I want to see it reviewed. The Government intends to review it in the context of the budget.