I heard the news that our colleagues Deputies Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy have announced they are not going forward for re-election. I acknowledge them as two mighty and formidable women in leadership. I wish them both the very best in the future. A moment of girl power, I feel, which is rare enough in these Chambers.

Two thirds of people believe it is harder than ever to buy a first home. That is the stark finding from new research published today. This sentiment is felt particularly strongly among young people. The reality is that bad Government policy and decision-making have literally shattered housing affordability for an entire generation. Let us look no further than the fiasco at Oscar Traynor Park, Coolock, where the Government will ask people to pay between €400,000 and €475,000 for a three-bedroom home under its so-called affordable housing scheme. For a one-bedroom home, the price will be between €264,000 and €309,000. How are these prices affordable?

They might be affordable if someone is well-off or well paid, but it should be remembered that this is supposed to be a scheme to help those on low and middle incomes to buy homes of their own. The reason the prices of these home is beyond the reach of working people is the Government’s insistence that public land at the site be sold to a private developer. What the Government should have done, and what Sinn Féin called for at the time, was to fund Dublin City Council to develop social and affordable homes on the site, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil could not stomach that. Despite Dublin City Council initially voting down the proposal, the Government pushed for the site to be sold to that private developer. To grease the wheels, a commitment was made that three-bedroom homes in the development would be sold for between €250,000 and €306,000 and that these prices would be fixed and not affected by inflation, but here we are four years on and there is no such thing. So much for those commitments.

What is worse is that the Government now proposes to do the same thing with the old DIT site on Aungier Street. It has decided to transfer that State land to a private developer without condition. It has exempted the developer from building social and affordable homes on prime city centre land. This is more bad decision-making and another huge mistake made by the Government with its eyes wide open. The land at Aungier Street should be transferred to Dublin City Council to deliver social and affordable housing. Transferring State lands to commercial developers is a disaster for housing affordability. The way forward must be to keep public land in public ownership and have councils or approved housing bodies deliver genuinely affordable housing.

Tá an Rialtas seo ag cur i bhfeidhm polasaithe a thaispeánann nach bhfuil aon chliú acu conas tithe ar phraghsanna réasúnta a chur ar fáil. Is í réiteach na faidhbe ná tithe a thógáil ar thalamh poiblí, lenar féidir le gnáthdhaoine agus oibritheoirí iad a cheannach.

Does the Taoiseach accept that prices of €400,000 and €475,000 for a three-bedroom home under a Government affordable housing scheme are absurd? Does he believe that is affordable? Why on earth is the Government making another major mistake with the Aungier Street site? Transferring prime State-owned land to a private developer and exempting the developer from delivering social and affordable housing is nothing short of madness.

Hear, hear.

I, too, want to begin by paying tribute to Deputies Shortall and Catherine Murphy on their significant decision. I want to acknowledge them both as very formidable politicians. I believe Deputy Shortall is the longest serving female TD in the history of our State. That in and of itself is an historic record that deserves commendation. Through her work on Sláintecare, she brought parties with different views together to try to find common ground. Deputy Murphy has served for approximately 30 years in various political roles in her community and in Dáil Éireann. She will always be remembered as a particularly diligent and efficient member of the Committee of Public Accounts. Of course, they both played a major role in founding their political party. I want to wish them both and their families every happiness and good health now and into the future.

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this very important issue. Let us start on something that I know we can agree on, namely, that far too many people in this country still feel that homeownership is out of reach. We are working to change that. I accept the bona fides of all political parties in this House that bring forward ideas and policies as to how they would change it, but it is also important to say to those people seeking to buy homes in our country that real progress is being made and that every single working day so far this year in Ireland, we have seen 321 new homes commence construction. So far this year-----

People cannot afford them.

I will get to affordability. So far this year, we are seeing around 500 people per week buying their first home. Sometimes, we get the impression from Deputy McDonald that no one is buying a house and nothing is happening, but that is simply not the reality.

On top of that on the social housing side of things, we saw the largest number of social houses allocated last year than at any time since the 1970s. Never in my lifetime were more social homes allocated than last year. We are making very significant progress in respect of housing supply.

It is particularly regrettable that the Deputy conveniently misrepresents the Government’s position on Aungier Street because she, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and other TDs for Dublin Central probably know the story better than most.

This House passed legislation, which I would say that the Deputy voted for, establishing the Grangegorman Development Agency, GDA. That set up an organisation in law that was charged with disposing of properties, including on Aungier Street - it is in the functions of the law - and putting the money generated from that into Grangegorman in the Deputy's constituency and one of the most incredible transformative projects. I believe the Deputy described it as her university when she visited it in February and looked on in great marvel at the huge contribution it has made to education in her community but much more widely than in just in her community. It has always been known by her and by those she met in Technological University Dublin that day that these properties would be disposed of and that every cent would go into the delivery of education. The Deputy might excuse me if I do not tolerate or buy the faux outrage here today because the Deputy knows the law well relating to the GDA.

She also knows that when we passed the Land Development Agency Act 2021, which I believe the Deputy opposed, it specifically also referred to the Grangegorman Development Agency. There is no big gotcha moment here. The Government position on the disposal of former Dublin Institute of Technology property has always been clear: dispose and put the money into education into the transformative Grangegorman campus in the Deputy's constituency.

We also checked with the Land Development Agency and the agency confirmed in writing to Government that it was not planning on developing that site for housing in any event.

On Oscar Traynor Woods, the Deputy is cherry-picking figures. The reality of the situation is that across Ireland, the average price under the affordable purchase homes under Government schemes is €267,000. Of course, when one has A-rated homes in certain parts of the city, we can see higher figures but we now have on Oscar Traynor Woods house prices that are 19% to 21% lower than market prices. These are facts that are worth repeating.

The problem is that he will not answer the question. Is €475,000 affordable for those people in need of an affordable home? The Taoiseach will also not accept that transferring public land to private developers is simply the wrong policy. It is not the way to develop and to deliver truly affordable homes and the Government should not be transferring a prime inner-city location, land so rare between the canals, for private development. That should go from the university to Dublin City Council for development.

This morning we saw the publication of an ESRI report that had been commissioned by the housing Minister about housing need. Incredibly, it only looked to the future. It ignored and took absolutely no account of the tens of thousands of people who currently need a home today. You could not actually make this stuff up. It is very little wonder that the Housing Commission threw the book at the Government and said very clearly that what we need is a radical transformation in housing policy. It was right and we need that transformation now.

Is it the Deputy's position that she accepts every recommendation of the Housing Commission report? Is that her position? We have written to her on the issue and we are awaiting the Deputy's response as the Government. If it is the Sinn Féin position that she accepts every recommendation of the report, she might just clarify that. I will sit down if the Deputy might just clarify that. Is that her position, "Yes" or "No"?

I am happy to say to the Taoiseach that we accept the finding of the Housing Commission-----

Yes, thank you.

-----that the Government's policy is failing and failing miserably.

I thank Deputy McDonald.

I gave the Deputy time for a bit of straight talking. Yes or No?

Please answer my question about affordability, Taoiseach, if you could.

Four hundred thousand euro.

-----and I would be obliged.

I gave the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity to say "Yes"-----

Four hundred and seventy-five thousand euro.

-----that she accepted all of the recommendation or "No" she did not and she refuses to answer. The Deputy wraps herself in reports when it suits her but she is not a details person. She is refusing to get down into the details. Which recommendations is she in favour of and which recommendations is she against?

Is it affordable?

I thank Sinn Féin very much for the chorus behind Deputy McDonald, which is trying to assist her but I am well able to answer the question, and I thank the Deputies very much.

Affordability very much depends on a person's circumstances. I am sure what Deputy McDonald thinks it is affordable is very different to what other people might think, as I am sure what I would and what other people in this House would think. That is why we provide a range of housing solutions. The average cost of an affordable home under our schemes is €267,000 and for anyone watching in, Sinn Féin would abolish the first home scheme-----

The Taoiseach cannot answer the question.

-----it would abolish the help-to-buy scheme-----

I call Deputy Doherty to order, please.

The reality of the situation is that Sinn Fein promised people in Ireland the €300,000 home and 72 hours before the local elections, Deputy McDonald admitted that was bogus.

Answer the question.

I answered the question but the Deputy just does not like the answer.

I ask Deputies to stop heckling.

The Taoiseach is not entitled to an affordable house. It is €400,000 for an affordable home.

I call Deputy Holly Cairns.

It is €267,000 for an affordable house.

I ask Deputies to have a bit of maturity, please.