The housing crisis continues to cut deep. The numbers in homelessness remain shockingly high. There are over 17,000 people in emergency accommodation, including 5,583 children. That is an appalling statistic and each figure represents an individual human tragedy. While the Dáil is in recess, sadly, many more people are likely to see an eviction notice land in their letterbox, and all of us know of those who are directly affected - like the young man who contacted me this week. He and his neighbours are being evicted at the end of the month with nowhere to go. Or like the young woman I am supporting, who was evicted into homelessness more than a year ago now. She has four children, two with significant disabilities, one of whom requires 24-hour medical care, and she has yet to be housed. She is relying on the goodwill of family and friends to keep a roof over her head. Another mother who is working full time was also evicted into homelessness a year ago. As a result, she has seen a deterioration in her youngest child, who has additional needs. I have supported her as she has been applying to every Government support scheme available but nothing has come good for her. Incredibly, her family has been deemed ineligible for priority treatment on exceptional grounds. Her ordeal should be unthinkable but, sadly, it is no longer a rarity.

All of us know of other families in similar situations because, under the Government, homelessness has sadly been normalised and evictions have continued apace, including mass evictions. The Government's housing policies have failed: policies on shed-sits, on evictions and rent hikes, on vacancy and dereliction but, above all, policies have failed to deliver on homes and social and affordable housing.

Let us take the Irish Glass Bottle site down the road in Poolbeg, where nearly 4,000 homes are set to be provided. At the weekend, letters uncovered by the Irish Independent revealed that the delivery of the social and affordable component of housing there is under threat. The Taoiseach knows there is a long history to this development. He will know it is the subject of a good faith agreement between the Department of housing, the developer, Dublin City Council and local residents. The agreement was to provide for the delivery of 900 social and affordable homes in an area where housing is desperately needed, where people are living in damp, mouldy homes in Pearse House, Markievicz House and other places with stairwells literally falling down. It is an area where market rents are sky high. An apartment on the Glass Bottle site rented privately costs more than €4,000 per month, yet the Minister for housing has been told that provision of much-needed social and affordable homes may now be delayed. Where will my constituents go?

Mere weeks ago, the Minister, Deputy James Browne, wrote that the most powerful tool we have to tackle homelessness is the delivery of social housing. It is possible, if we are determined enough, to use every single lever at our disposal. Will the Government use every lever at its disposal to tackle the housing crisis? Will the Taoiseach ensure delivery of the social and affordable homes promised at the Irish Glass Bottle site, and indeed across every community where they are so badly needed?

First, we will use every lever. I accept that housing is the social issue of our time. There is no question about that. We are using every lever but from time to time the Opposition objects to many of the levers that we deploy in respect of housing.

Could I pick the Deputy up on social housing? Between 2020 and 2025, we have delivered 60,000 social homes, through build, acquisition and leasing.

Over 9,000 new-build social homes were delivered in last year. That was the highest annual total in the State's history. We have made huge progress on social housing since 2020 in terms of the numbers of homes that are being built. Close to 23,000 social homes were in design or construction at the end of 2025. We are targeting about 72,000 new social homes by 2030. In addition, we are making progress regarding new starter homes. Some 36,000 houses were built last year. We will build more this year, and we need to build more again in 2027. That is the objective.

If we look at planning permission alone, we can see that the momentum is strong. Permission was granted for 34,000 new homes in the 12 months to the end of quarter 1 of 2026. This was up 8% year on year, with 13,000 commencements for the first five months of this year. That was up 161% year on year. The housing infrastructure fund is going to be significant and will unblock about 86,000 units. Real investment in dwellings was up close to 20% in 2025. Construction employment is up 33%, at 195,000, since 2020. Development land deals are up 55%, with quarter 1 of this year being the best quarter in this regard since 2019 being experienced. Home Building Finance Ireland's loan book has grown by 25% and a €1 billion housing infrastructure investment fund has been announced. The number of first-time buyers mortgage drawdowns in 2025 was 27,500, the highest volume since 2007. In May of this year, first-time buyers accounted for 59% of all mortgage approvals. That is up 44% on 2022. Progress is being made. The issue for us is to get to 50,000 per annum, and to do so on a sustainable basis over a ten-year period in order to meet population growth and demand.

Homelessness is a far more complex issue now than it was four or five years ago. There are many factors in homelessness.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Not least among these is the migration issue, which is having a significant impact. Across the board, we have taken significant initiatives, which have been opposed by the Opposition, to deliver housing. I still think that the Government's programme is more substantive, effective and impactful than any proposals that brought forward by other political parties in the House.

The Taoiseach can quote figures, but I have already quoted to him the shocking figure relating to those who are homeless. Let me also quote figures published just this week by the AIB construction purchasing managers index. Those figures show residential building contracting for the third consecutive month. There was a sharp contraction in construction activity in June, down to 45.4% from 50.2%. I use the debacle over the Poolbeg site to illustrate the difficulty the Government is in. The Government's overreliance on the private sector has simply failed to deliver homes at the necessary scale. Construction, including residential construction, is slowing. The private sector has a significant role to play, but the State needs to take on a far more prominent and proactive role. That is at the heart of the Labour Party's proposals and, indeed, the proposals of other Opposition parties. Central to provision is that promises on delivery must be kept. Should the developers of the Irish Glass Bottle site fail to honour the legally binding 15% planning condition, legal action will have to be taken.

Thank you, Deputy. The Taoiseach to respond.

It is very hard for my constituents and other people around the country who are homeless or facing the threat of eviction to see how little is being done by the Government.

Deputy, please. At the behest of the Chair, the Taoiseach will respond.

That is not real. On the Labour Party's proposal, namely the idea of setting up a new State-owned construction company-----

The Land Development Agency.

-----would take years and would not have any impact on house building right now or over the next five years for that matter. The Labour Party has produced a couple of pages on it, with nothing fleshed out. That is the bottom line. We already have the Land Development Agency-----

That is what I said. Ramp it up.

-----and that is delivering well, so why create a new one?

That is what we said. Ramp up the Land Development Agency.

It does not work like that, Deputy. Please respect the answer.

It has been ramped up, for God's sake. Billions are going into the Land Development Agency. That is how thin the Labour Party's proposals are. Genuinely, there is no real substance coming from the Opposition on housing in terms of adding to our stock. We did the exemption for back gardens, but those in opposition just dismissed that. We did rural housing and that was also dismissed. The Department also produced guidelines. The help to buy scheme, was opposed by the Opposition. The first home scheme was also opposed.

It is inflationary.

That has helped young people and first-time buyers enormously, so much so that the number of first-time buyer mortgages is way ahead now of any other type of mortgage.

Thank you Taoiseach, time is up. I call Deputy Stanley.

How do we get from 40,000-odd to 50,000?