The Minister is at it again. The Government has just been caught out using dodgy housing data and talking about 40,000 homes completed last year and just now, the Minister told us work commenced on 60,000 homes in 2024, using the same dodgy data based on commencement notices filed and housing sites then lying idle, which has been happening all around the country. Do not take my word for that; Property Industry Ireland, the lobbyist for the investment funds that the Government listens to so much, said at the weekend that the 60,000 commencement notices in 2024 will not, in fact, manifest in completed units. That is the lobbyist for the developers that the Minister listens to all the time saying those 60,000 homes will not, in fact, end up as completed homes. He might listen to them if he will not listen to us.

Last Thursday people started sleeping in their cars in Leixlip. Dozens of people, desperate to own their own home, queued for days for the chance to buy one of just 31 homes. These homes were not cheap. They ranged in price from €460,000 to €525,000 but when they went on sale on Saturday morning, they were gone within minutes and scores of people were left disappointed. What happened in Leixlip is a microcosm of the chaos in housing all across the country. Homes priced at €500,000 are not affordable for most people. Still, even when they go on sale, people must sleep in their cars for days to have any chance of buying them. People are increasingly desperate and this Government has nothing to say to reassure them. In fact, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spent the election campaign misleading them, repeatedly telling people that 40,000 homes would be delivered. They did not even come close to that figure. Now people can see that they were conned.

The latest proposals to address this are tax breaks for developers and sweetheart deals for investment funds. This is not the policy reset that he and his Government claim it to be. It is, in fact, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael reverting to type. We are constantly told there are not alternatives to getting this type of finance but there are other options. A report by Housing Europe - commissioned by one of Fianna Fáil's MEPs, by the way - goes into great detail about the billions of euro in European Union funding streams that could be used to build affordable housing. Why is the Government ignoring this? It does not have to double down on failure. Does the Minister think people voted for more tax breaks for investment funds? Why were the Government parties not upfront about these proposals during the election campaign? As an alternative, will the Government use the European Union funding streams to finance the construction of housing that is affordable?

I thank the Deputy for the question. What I said in reply to the other Deputies is that any incoming Government should examine all of the policy options that will achieve the central objective - where I think there is consensus on in this House - how do we increase the overall supply to meet the targets that have been set over a series of years. We are open to constructive feedback and engagement on that. What we have said, as a Government, is that the Minister for housing with others - the Minister for Finance, myself as the Minister for public expenditure, and others - will try to access all options to give that significant uplift in supply that is central to achieving affordability across our economy.

I acknowledge the difficulties many aspiring homeowners face and, again, the many people and couples who were left waiting for bad news at Leixlip over the past number of days, a situation which is reflected across the country. It will not improve if we continue with policies that do not unlock supply. That is why it will be a two-pronged approach from this Government in the policy options we take when it comes to delivering supply. As I have said previously, we need to look at the NDP to accelerate infrastructure delivery in our economy. How do we unlock transport-oriented housing development where we have built transport networks in cities or in urban areas? How do progress current projects where we could unlock further supply? How do we address the shortages we have in water infrastructure in towns and regions across our country that will help unlock further housing supply? These are the policy options we are taking, which will involve a bigger role for the State and State agencies such as Irish Water, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the National Transport Authority, and the Land Development Agency. Central to our policy is the State's role in the provision of housing supply but we are being honest with people. If we want to reach between 50,000 and 60,000 new homes per year, we need to make sure Ireland is an attractive place for private investment as well. If we are all honest about that, we have seen that weaken in recent years, and that has had an impact on the overall housing supply environment. It will not improve with the Deputy attacking private investors like he did in his initial contribution. It will not happen if he continues the attack on private investors like he has done in recent years or his constant opposition to lots of constructive proposals that have come from Government such as the Land Development Agency. While the then Minister, Deputy O'Brien, was progressing the planning legislation, the Deputy and his party were central to slowing this down, trying to undermine it and trying to create further barriers to the bureaucracy of planning on which we needed to see progress in recent years. Let me be clear: it will be a bigger role for the State but if we are going to unlock further housing supply, we need to ensure we unlock private investment as well and that is the position of Government

Does the Minister know that the countries in Europe with the largest rental sectors, the most landlords and the most investors, are also the countries in Europe with the strongest forms of rent regulation? Does he know, as regards constructive proposals, about those in the Housing Europe report commissioned by one of Fianna Fáil's MEPs about how to get billions of euro of funding into affordable house? Does he know about those and why is he not taking on board those constructive proposals? I asked the Minister about the 60,000 homes commenced last year. That is not correct; 60,000 commencement notices were filed but 60,000 homes were not commenced last year. Many of those sites are lying idle. Will he withdraw what he said on that? We do not need more misinformation and misclaims from this Government. Will he answer my questions? Does he think people voted for tax breaks for investment funds? Why did he not mention those during the election and why was he not upfront about those proposals?

As I said previously, my central point on commencement notices is that we have a strong pipeline in place for supply with commencement notices issuing of 60,000 new homes. Feedback suggests that there is unquestionably significantly more work on site than before, aided by the Government's development levy and water connection waivers, and it is not just a matter of if but a matter of when these commencement notices will translate to real supply. There will be some supply this year and next year but I am talking about the next five years or indeed the years after that. How we develop a housing policy that gets us to between 50,000 and 60,000 homes per year?

In response to the Deputy's question on renters, I was being clear to all of the others. Any policy action we take here is to protect renters but also to make sure we develop more rental accommodation in our country with an increased population. We need to have private investment to accelerate that as well. He is not being honest about that point. Let me be clear.

Thank you, Minister.

We will be strengthening the role of the State to increase housing supply and trying to complement that-----

Thank you Minister, your time is up.

-----by having housing policies that accelerate private investment as well.