Faoin Rialtas seo, tá an ghéarchéim tithíochta imithe ó olcas go dtí rudaí níos measa. Sampla eile don teip seo ná an scéal an tseachtain seo go gcosnóidh tithe inacmhainne, tithe ar phraghas réasúnta, ar Bhóthar Oscair Mhic Thréinir sa Chúlóg, suas le €475,000. Tá ag teip ar an Rialtas tithe inacmhainne a sholáthar agus is teip arís é seo ó thaobh pholasaí tithíochta an Rialtais atá ag déanamh rudaí níos deacra do go leor daoine.

The Tánaiste is aware that under this Government house prices have soared and home ownership is falling. For too many, buying a home in this State is simply unaffordable. When Deputy Darragh O'Brien took office as Minister for housing he stated that one of his key objectives was to deliver affordable homes for people and families to purchase, to give hope back to young people so they can aspire to own their own family home. Those were his words. He talked a big game. The question is, what is affordable in the eyes of the Minister or the Tánaiste?

In October 2020, Dublin city councillors voted down a controversial deal to sell public land at Oscar Traynor Road to a private developer. The deal was rejected because it would make it impossible to deliver affordable homes for working people to buy. Sinn Féin had long campaigned for the Government to fund Dublin City Council to deliver affordable and social homes on this very site but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments refused to provide the funding. Instead, the Government wanted the public land to be sold to the developer. Sinn Féin warned this would lead to unaffordable prices and rip-off rents. When the vote came, Fine Gael, as it does, supported it, Sinn Féin opposed it and the Tánaiste's party was split down the middle, with four councillors voting against it. In desperation, the Government leaned on Dublin City Council and a promise was made that three-bedroom homes would be sold for between €250,000 and €306,000. Fianna Fáil got in line and supported the bad deal and the land was sold.

Fast forward to today, 2024. This week, Dublin City Council announced the prices that what this Government describes as affordable homes on Oscar Traynor Road will be sold for. A sum of €400,000 is the lowest price people will pay for a three-bedroom home. The cost will go up to €475,000. Up to €309,000 is the price people will pay for a one-bedroom home on Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock. The Government calls this its affordable housing scheme. It is bonkers. This is the Minister and the Government's idea of affordability. It is astonishing. People will wonder if they are living in a parallel universe. How out of touch can the Government get if it thinks these prices are affordable? How can anybody stand over a scheme that offers a three-bedroom home for prices of between €400,000 and €475,000 and call it affordable? We warned the Government this plan would lead to homes that were unaffordable and out of the reach of ordinary people, and we were right, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil refused to listen. Look where we are today.

We now have the ludicrous result of what was promised as affordable homes on State-owned land being sold for up to €475,000. The people in Coolock - I know many of them - who are desperate to buy a home in the community in which they were born to have a future for themselves and their families are now looking at a development in their back yard in which they can never aspire to own a home.

Does the Tánaiste believe €475,000 for a three-bedroom home in Coolock is affordable? It is a very simple question. Does he regret his support for this deal? Does he accept this was not only a bad deal for people who want affordable homes, but a terrible deal for the taxpayer? Will the Government now stop the policy of gifting public land to developers and support councils and approved housing bodies delivering real, affordable homes on public land.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Níl an méid a dúirt sé cruinn nó macánta. Tá sé mímhacánta. Is léir go bhfuil easpa polasaithe ag páirtí Sinn Féin i gcomhthéacs cúrsaí tithíochta. Bhí Sinn Féin i gcoinne an-chuid scéimeanna ar Bhóthar Oscair Mhic Thréinir-----

Is é sin an fáth.

-----le fada de bhlianta. Sinn Féin was against the building of houses on Oscar Traynor Road for well over a decade.

That is not true.

No, we are not.

The bottom line is that in the Deputy's contribution - it is interesting - he omitted to say that the scheme approved by Dublin City Council contained 20% affordable homes, 40% social homes and 40% cost-rental homes. Of the 853 homes, 20% are affordable, 40% are social and 40% are cost rental. Why did the Deputy not mention the 40% social? Why did he not mention the 40% cost rental?

Let us take the advertised prices and the Deputy's figure of €400,000. The advertised prices are €264,000 for a one-bedroom property, €356,000 for a two-bedroom and €399,000 for a three-bedroom home. Those prices are €100,000 lower than the marker price at the moment, bear that in mind, because of schemes the Government introduced to support providers.

Let us go further. Let us take the first home scheme, which Sinn Féin opposed, the shared equity scheme. Anyone purchasing a home through that scheme can get up to €100,000, which brings the price and the affordability down to €300,000.

It cannot be used on this scheme.

They cannot use it on this scheme.

They can then get €30,000 in terms of the help to buy scheme-----

That is not true. They cannot use the first home scheme on these developments. That is factually incorrect. He does not even know what scheme he is talking about.

-----so they are looking at a much-reduced price in respect of what is being presented by the Deputy. They are the first houses to come on stream on that particular scheme. There is 40% social and 40% cost rental. The cost-rental homes are 25% below market value. That site was left vacant for decades. It was a scandal that site was left vacant, in my view-----

Who did that?

The Tánaiste was in government at the time.

-----because of ideologically driven policies by Sinn Féin and others, objecting serially all of the time. My point is that Sinn Féin's equity scheme, for example, is interesting. Home ownership matters and we believe in home ownership. We did not believe the site should be 100% social homes, which Sinn Féin did.

One hundred per cent affordable.

We do not believe in 100% social schemes.

One hundred per cent affordable.

Please, Deputy Ó Broin.

We believe there should be a balance and we believe home ownership matters. In many respects through Sinn Féin's schemes - given the cap of €80,000 on its shared equity scheme, for example - one could never own a house if they were a garda married to a nurse or whatever. That is a fact.

That is not true.

Sinn Féin would put a cap of €80,000 on it and get rid of the shared equity scheme and the first home scheme. That is the bottom line.

But we would deliver affordable homes, which is something the Government is not doing.

Well, the answer is that the Government is living in a parallel universe-----

Hear, hear.

-----and the Tánaiste actually does not know the Government's own housing policy. He stood there and tried to justify this. I understand his dilemma because I asked him a simple question, which was whether he believes the houses the Government is delivering on Oscar Traynor Road, at an entry price of €400,000 for a three-bedroom house and going up to €475,000, are affordable. He cannot answer that simple question because he knows that to say "Yes" is absolutely daft and to say "No" shows up that the Government is completely failing ordinary people. So what did he do? He misled the Dáil. He suggested people can use the first home scheme to reduce the price by €100,000. People cannot do that. The problem is this. The Government's policy-----

It is affordability.

-----is about gifting public land to private developers.

This scheme should be 100% affordable - social housing and affordable homes. I ask the question very simply. Is €400,000 affordable for a three-bedroom house in Coolock, in the Tánaiste's view? It goes up to €475,000. It could have been affordable. This month, Ó Cualann has delivered three-bedroom affordable purchase homes in Ballymun at purchase prices of €264,000 to €295,000. Why? It is not for profit. The land was kept public, the right thing was done. The Government's policy is pushing up prices beyond the reach of anybody. Does the Tánaiste believe that the advertised price of €400,000 is affordable for a family purchasing a three-bedroom home in Coolock? It is a simple question.

The person will not have to pay €400,000, that is the point. It is already €100,000 below market value. When someone buys that house, they will have acquired a house for €100,000 below the market value. They will have availed of schemes that will increase their capacity to afford that house by about €130,000, if they go the full distance on the first home scheme and take the help to buy payment of €30,000. You did not mention once----

This is ridiculous.

Through the Chair, you did not mention once the help to buy scheme. You opposed it from day one. That would benefit anybody buying an affordable house. You have never supported development in Oscar Traynor.

Where are the affordable homes, Tánaiste? Not on Oscar Traynor Road.

You are obfuscating and prevaricating. You will not accept the basic fact that the schemes the Government has brought in through the first home scheme and the help to buy scheme-----

A price of €400,000 is not affordable.

-----significantly improve an individual's or a couple's capacity to make a house affordable, in this case from about €400,000 to €270,000 in terms of the amount that a person would have to pay out. That is significant. That covers right across the board.

You are just embarrassing yourself now, Tánaiste.

A Cheann Comhairle, you cannot accept that these houses are being sold for €270,000. Let us fact-check it.

Resume your seat, Deputy Doherty.

Sinn Féin would get rid of those schemes if it went into government.

Let us fact-check the Tánaiste's claim.

Any first-time buyer out there needs to be aware that Sinn Féin would undermine their capacity to buy houses into the future by getting rid of help to buy and getting rid of the first home scheme. You do not believe in home ownership.

Sinn Féin would deliver affordable homes.

Deputy Ó Broin does not believe in home ownership. Tell the truth. You do not believe in home ownership.

Let us fact-check.

Spoofer.

Where are the affordable homes? Not on Oscar Traynor Road.

Would Deputies bring an end to this charade, please? Deputy Ó Broin, you are letting yourself down.

Absolutely. The Government is letting homeowners who want to buy affordable homes down. It is embarrassing.

Where is your housing policy?

We do not need anything from the Government side. We want an end to your strategic heckling, please. Let us conduct ourselves with a bit of decorum.

We cannot have the Tánaiste misleading the Dáil.

Resume your seat.

Can I ask a question on a point of order?

No, there are no points of order on Leaders' Questions. Resume your seat.

That is fine, but I would like to know at some stage after Leaders' Questions, when the Tánaiste deliberately misleads the House, what rights does the Opposition have?

Do not accuse a colleague of deliberately misleading the House.

I am absolutely, fully accusing him of deliberately misleading the House. He suggested that these houses will be sold for €270,000. It is a bloody plain lie.

The way that should be done, if you wish to go down that road, is by way of a formal motion, not by way of accusation on the floor of the House. If you have a motion you want to table, do so. We are going to hear Deputy Nash.

I am not making an accusation, I am stating a fact.

You are not.

I am. You are being completely dishonest.

I will suspend the House if this continues. Please do not make me do that. Deputy Nash is next.