Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy just cannot handle a riposte or a case made back against him even in the gentle tones of mine at 9 p.m. He just cannot handle it. I make the case to him again, and it is great that the Sinn Féin budget is back on its website and I thank the Deputy for doing that, that if I was to look at all the alternative budgets that it has done in recent years, every single one argued there was no need for a surplus or a national reserve fund and that we should spend all the money available at any point in time and that it would raise much more money through more taxes.

The case I make to Deputy Doherty, and I am happy to engage in a debate about all of the consequences of what I stand over, is that if we had implemented those policies, we would have come out of Covid-19 with a deficit because we would have gone into Covid-19 with a deficit. We would be facing into a cost-of-living crisis while lacking the kind of flexibility that we have now. As well as this, at the moment, and God knows what the world economy could yet bring for Ireland and the challenges we might yet face, we would not be running a surplus. Those things do have value in a world that is increasingly dangerous and volatile. I respectfully but firmly make the case here again that while there are things about the policies I am making the case for that I wish were more effective and that we may yet need to change, they are leading to more homes being built year by year. They are leading to our local authorities building more homes. They are leading to more homes being built.

I do not believe in some of the key features of what Deputy Doherty is bringing forward. He talks about wanting to give people hope to own their own home but he is against the help to buy scheme; wanting to see more investment being made in the delivery of homes but is against the Land Development Agency, LDA; and wanting to see more private rental accommodation being made available but is advocating for a rent freeze that would over time lead to a lower amount of rental accommodation being made available. Those are legitimate points about the policies that the Deputy is proposing.

I will end where I began, which is by acknowledging the huge human need that is there and the imperative to make a difference. We would not be well served by a Government Minister who fails to acknowledge that we do not have to do more. I am acknowledging that we have to do more. Equally, however, we are not well served by Sinn Féin bringing forward proposals that will over time lead to fewer homes being built.