After the general election, all the briefing from the Government was that it was ready to take what it called "difficult decisions" to fix this housing disaster. In recent weeks, it has certainly been difficult to watch this Government's chaotic decision-making - its U-turns, drip-feeds and hasty rewrites of flawed press releases. Undoubtedly, the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Browne, have made decisions as difficult for renters as they could possibly have managed. Last week, and again just now on Leaders' Questions, he gleefully said the Government took the Opposition by surprise with the pronouncements on RPZs.

I did not say that.

He made it sound like it was a "gotcha" moment for him.

It was last week that I said that.

It is hardly gotcha. Of course, we welcome decisions that are taken by the Government that we believe will fix the housing crisis. We support the extension of RPZs across the country, but not a hollowed out version of RPZs that offer no real protections for renters. This was not a gotcha moment for landlords because last week he gave them a generous nine months' notice of his mooted plans. The net effect of that was obvious. Some signalled their intention to hike rents quickly before their investment property came within an RPZ next March. Others, opportunistically, started making plans to issue tenants with a notice to quit - racing the clock before the new rules came in. Concerns were immediately raised about this last week by my colleague, Deputy Sheehan. Labour Party representatives heard from frightened renters around the country. It is clear the Taoiseach and his backbenchers heard it too because, suddenly, there was to be emergency legislation this week to give effect to the difficult decisions on RPZs without delay. We know the Bill will be rushed through tomorrow but there is still very little clarity for renters.

There is very little clarity for any of us. We have learned there are to be no special protections for students or short-term renters. This has been incredibly difficult for renters. It remains difficult. People are living in fear of evictions, of rent hikes and of an uncertain future. It is the Government's chaotic drip feed of housing policy changes which is causing this uncertainty and confusion. That is why at 6 p.m. people from across the country will be gathering outside Leinster House for our national Raise the Roof housing demonstration.

Yes, that is what it is for.

It is all about protests.

People will gather to send a strong message to the Government. It is time for a radical reset of housing policy. No more incoherent policy changes. We need to see the radical reset the Housing Commission has called for because only the State has the deep pockets necessary to underwrite the construction of homes at the scale that is needed. The Government must scale up its effort and ambition, not waste time and money on "Bertienomics" era tax breaks for developers or ineffectual apartment design changes.

One promising policy that we welcome is an overhaul of the Land Development Agency, LDA. We have been calling for this for years in Labour. We want to see the LDA become effective. Rather than trying to catch the Opposition off guard or trying to govern by gotcha, why will the Government not take on board other urgent and ambitious proposals for reform and fix the housing crisis? Why will it not adopt our policy on protections for renters?

I will first say to the Deputy that since the Government came in a number of months ago in January, we have approved an extra €700 million in respect of projects and programmes for social and affordable housing. We passed the national planning framework, which will enable local authorities to zone far more land for house construction. We brought forward proposals on legislation to extend and renew planning permissions in order to give continuity and ensure that those planning permissions can be realised. We brought in the RPZ reforms that were announced last week, which the Deputy is now attacking. In the same breath and the same comment, the Deputy talks about a radical reset recommended by the Housing Commission. This was recommended by the Housing Commission - a reform of the RPZs. Which is it? What aspects of the Housing Commission is the Deputy saying we should and should not implement? The Housing Agency was asked to do a review of RPZs following on from the Housing Commission. It did its review. We have adopted one of the proposed areas - as in reforming the RPZs, not getting rid of them as the Deputy said I would. We are not doing anything like that; we are strengthening protections for renters.

Driving up rents.

Very significantly providing protections for renters which Deputy Bacik is clearly ignoring in her commentary. While at the same time, in terms of new investment and new units, which we do need, there has to be a clear policy certainty and stability in the market so that people can invest. After 2026, linking new units to the consumer price index, CPI, and a right to reset after six years is the crucial piece that will allow inward investment in to get supply up. If we do not get supply up, then the rate at which prices will moderate will be slower. It is as simple as that. The Deputy will not bite the bullet. She will not make the difficult decision. She is in opposition. I accept that.

We cannot. We are not in the Government.

It is your job.

She will not support anything that in any way she perceives to be injurious to her electoral base or might cost her a few votes. That is the prism through which she is looking at our housing crisis. I recall that she is the person that said she will build 100,000 per year-----

Where is the 40,000?

-----through some new-fangled national State building agency, the details of which are few and far between. The Deputy has not produced solutions. We have built more than 30,000 per annum over the past number of years.

Captured by civil servants-----

In the first quarter of this year, housing completions were close to 6,000. The actual number was 5,938. That is the highest since the record in 2011, bar the spike after Covid-19. There is a lot of delivery happening. The land market activity on residential zoned areas is up. There is a great deal of activity there. We have to keep going and get the job done.

Anybody watching will be wondering when the Government is going to take political responsibility for the housing crisis. He is the Taoiseach and is in government. His party and Fine Gael have effectively governed together for the best part of a decade and yet, he is resorting to throwing critiques at the Opposition for not building homes.

We are in opposition. The Labour Party, as the Taoiseach well knows, produced a costed, detailed plan on housing and on the transformation of the Land Development Agency into a State construction company because only the State has the deep pockets that can underwrite the risk of construction. That is what I am hearing from builders and developers. The Taoiseach knows that to be the case. He knows he does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to defending his housing policy. Last year, the Government thought it would deliver 40,000 new builds. It came far short of that. Renters, those who aspire to home ownership, those who are couch surfing and living in their childhood bedrooms, not to mention the 15,000 people in homelessness, know the Government does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to housing policy.

Thank you, Deputy.

The Government has to take responsibility and deliver the homes people need.

I have no difficulty in taking responsibility. We are taking decisions.

To drive up rents.

The Deputy is criticising decisions. She said, "We are in opposition". The Labour Party could have been in government-----

-----but it did not have the courage.

You did not give us a chance. You had done the deal with Michael Lowry.

Deputies either want the answer-----

You and many in your party did not have the courage. Why? It was because-----

You had done the dodgy deal.

Look, it hurts. I have the floor.

You have 30 seconds, Taoiseach.

I accept what I just said hurts the party. I note Deputy Kelly is not here. To be fair to him, he wanted to go into government, but the others did not-----

-----and the reason they did not want to go into government was that they are afraid of the people alongside them.

Answer the question, Taoiseach

You were afraid to jump in case they would not jump and vice versa.

Answer the question, Taoiseach

I have no difficulty in taking responsibility, but maybe it is time Deputy Bacik took some responsibility and fleshed out her details.

We will have to clean up your mess.

Deputy Whitmore of the Social Democrats.

You made some mess yourselves.

The big man who will not answer a question.

You would be dying for Opposition.

Thank you, Deputy. Please allow the Social Democrats to take their Leaders' Questions slot.

But they have all joined forces now.

The joint Opposition.

Please-----