I welcome all of our visitors to the Gallery. I call Deputy McDonald.

The Government keeps telling people that affordable home ownership is just around the corner, but that is not true. The latest report, published this morning, confirms this. That report from myhome.ie and Bank of Ireland makes for very grim reading for everybody, but especially for young people trying to get their first home. The report shows that house prices are continuing to rise and selling prices are well above even those, at 7.5% above asking. This is pricing more people, especially young people, out of buying their own home. The median asking price for a home State-wide is now €400,000, and here in Dublin, it is close to €500,000. These are startling headline figures, but they do not tell the full story of the runaway house prices. Some counties have experienced double-digit increases in the last year. Kilkenny, Roscommon and Mayo have seen €25,000 added to house prices.

At the heart of this crisis is broken Government policy - policy built on empty promises rather than delivery. For example, the Government promised to deliver 2,100 affordable homes to buy last year, but how many did it actually deliver? The answer is 935. By the way, most of these homes were not affordable to the vast majority of working people. Homes that the Government describes as affordable often have price tags of €400,000 or more. That is not affordable, not for a nurse, a retail worker, a van driver or a childcare worker, and not for the vast majority of young people trying to raise a family.

This cannot go on. We need to do so much better. We need so much more ambition. We need to make homes affordable. We need to make it easier for people to get their first home. We need to deliver the largest council housing building programme in the history of the State. We need to tackle the rip-off rents that make it so hard, impossible even, for young people to save for a deposit. I believe that we can restore hope, that we can get back to a place where ordinary people who work hard and save hard can have and buy a home of their own. That is the promise we have to make real for our young people - that they will have their opportunity to build the life they deserve here at home in Ireland. That means we need vision, energy and a break from serving the interests of corporate landlords, speculators and property funds, to focus on workers, families and our young people.

Léiríonn an tuairisc is déanaí ó myhome.ie go bhfuil praghsanna na dtithe ag méadú de shíor. Tá teipthe glan ar pholasaithe tithíochta an Rialtais. Tá géarghá le hathrú mór treo chun na tithe atá de dhíth ag ár bpobal a chur ar fáil ar phraghsanna réasúnta.

Does the Minister accept that house prices are continuing to rise? Does he accept that prices of €400,000 are not affordable for ordinary people? Does he accept that the Government delivering only 935 affordable homes last year is absolutely pitiful? Does he now recognise that we need a major change of direction to end this crisis and deliver those homes that our people need?

This Government wants to give hope to young people and people who want to get an affordable home. It is the single biggest focus of the Government in everything we do. It is about building hope around delivering more home ownership, delivering an increased supply of social homes and ensuring that we bring affordability to all of our interventions. That is why all of the reforms that we have introduced are about trying to increase supply, something that Deputy McDonald does not acknowledge in all of her contributions.

She attacks, criticises and objects but does not support policy which works in enabling greater supply.

In 2025, we had record delivery and strong growth. Some 17,500 starter homes supports were delivered in 2025, the highest annual total recorded and a 21% increase compared to 2024. That demonstrates the sustained Government investment in accelerating progress in housing delivery. We have seen that increased supply will help moderate overall price growth and help to ease affordability challenges over the next number of years, as we ramp up supply across the board. That is why that level of investment in capital infrastructure and housing has been prioritised by Government in our national development plan.

The CSO data showed that prices fell month on month for the first time in almost three years, at minus 0.2% in February, following a period of moderation, and 1% for consecutive months. Prices have remained stable between March and April, respectively. The policy of Government is working. The reforms introduced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, are working.

Why does Deputy McDonald continue to oppose Government policy that supports affordability? There are tens of thousands of people who have benefited from the help to buy scheme that has bridged the gap for young people who are working hard and want a Government that supports them to bridge the gap in terms of affordability supports. Sinn Féin opposed that. Many Sinn Féin councillors across different local authorities, and even Deputy McDonald in her own constituency, Dublin Central, continuously oppose homes and supply opportunities-----

Glass houses.

-----again promoting local objectives and NIMBYism over the greater good. That is Sinn Féin's policy, namely, opposition on the ground and attacking Government at a national level. It is just not good enough. It is not serious politics.

We need supply-side interventions which drive tens of thousands more homes and completions across the board and matching the record level of support in terms of social housing delivery with affordability support which bridge the gap for young people. That is what is working. That is what will ensure we have increased supply in 2026, with the reforms we are introducing around increased zoning and the measures being taken by the Minister, Deputy Browne, on the housing infrastructure investment fund. It will provide enabling infrastructure locally to deliver more homes in the villages and towns across the country that have had constraints around water systems, being able to connect energy and other local infrastructure constraints, which have harmed housing supply.

This Government will continue to invest in infrastructure and provide affordability supports for young people, which Sinn Féin continues to oppose. It needs to front up young people about why it continues to oppose affordability supports for them. We want to match that with continued increase in supply in terms of social homes across the country. That is why we have put significant capital investment aside to support our approved housing bodies in terms of cost rental and drive an increased supply of social homes through local authorities while we improve the overall supply situation. We are seeing the moderation happen in CSO data. Increased supply will help overall with the affordability supports Sinn Féin continues to shamefully oppose.

I am sure I am not the only person struck by the profound irony of the Minister telling me that supply is the thing when, in fact, his Government only managed to deliver 935 affordable homes last year.

Hear, hear.

If supply is the thing, and it is the thing, the Government is failing abjectly on that measure.

On the measure of affordability, €400,000 is simply not affordable for ordinary working people, especially younger ones. House prices of half a million here in Dublin are absolutely out of the question. Does the Minister accept that today, as per this report, house prices and asking prices are continuing to rise? People are priced out of getting their first home. Does the Minister accept that we need to change tack to ensure that people can get a home and people who work and save hard can afford to own their own home? Does the Minister accept that there needs to be a change of direction or will he continue with the rinse-and-repeat policy of failure?

Sinn Féin policy is a complete and utter failure. It is a dishonest policy position when it comes to improving housing supply. It is populist waffle. In Dublin Central, Sinn Féin opposes housing project after housing project, day in, day out, which young people could be living in.

That is the issue.

Give us the evidence.

We must have an honest conversation about how we improve supply across the housing system. For the Deputy to oppose housing every day and every week in her own constituency and then to lecture the Government on not doing enough shows a complete contradiction in Sinn Féin policy.

The Minister cannot stand up and tell the truth.

Deputy Gould, you are out of order. Stop interrupting.

We see populism and NIMBYism on the ground and then waffle and rhetoric in here. You need to get real, Deputy McDonald, in terms of honesty around housing policy. We need to provide supply-side alternatives.

You have now answered my question.

Do not interrupt the Minister, Deputy.

Supply, by way of the affordability interventions the Government is making, will improve affordability, which is something you continually oppose.

The Minister has now answered my question.

Deputy McDonald, please stop interrupting.

The Deputy's party has a complete contradiction in housing policy and it gives no hope for young people.

Your time is up, Minister. I call Deputy Cairns.

We will have fewer homes being built if we follow its model.