Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his opening statement. The facts are that his plan is not working and that he carefully avoided all the evidence which shows that it is not. House prices have never been higher in the history of the State, making it increasingly difficult for people to buy their own homes. Interest rate cuts that we expect to come quite soon are likely to fuel further house price inflation. Data from the Residential Tenancies Board indicate that rents for new and existing renters continue to rise, and way beyond what is affordable. There are double-digit figures for almost all counties in the case of new rents, with an average increase of 5% for existing renters and some counties experiencing much higher increases.

Probably one of the most concerning aspects, and one of the Minister's greatest failures, is that the number of new homes coming on the market for people to purchase is stagnating. Independent analysis shows that the number of homes built last year that people were able to purchase was lower than in 2022 and approximately the same as in 2018 and 2019. Therefore, despite a modest increase in overall supply, in real terms the number of homes for people to purchase is flatlining and clearly not in line with the targets in the Minister's plan.

The Minister keeps missing his social housing targets. The most concerning point is not that the targets are missed but that only about half of what is actually required overall is being delivered. Of course, we cannot get an accurate picture of the overall level of need because the Minister will not allow the Housing Agency to publish the data properly through the housing needs assessment report. It is very clear, however, that we need about twice the number of social homes currently being delivered.

On affordable housing, which I will focus on in my question, not only are the targets too low and have been missed, but there are also real concerns around the pricing of those houses. The biggest failure the Minister has had during his time in office is the month-on-month increases in homelessness, including single-person, family, child and pensioner homelessness. Those are the facts and the real impacts of his failing housing plan. The consequences for people throughout the country are huge insecurity, especially for those in the private rental sector; increasing levels of overcrowding as more and more adults are forced to live with family and friends; real financial hardship with people struggling with high mortgage costs and high rents; and emigration. This is the first time in the history of the State that people are being forced to emigrate not because they cannot find work but, rather, cannot secure affordable homes.

I will focus on the following. We have had many debates about the Government missing its affordable housing targets. In 2022, it was to deliver 2,100 affordable homes through local authority-approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency, LDA. It fell short of that by 52% with just 1,007 homes delivered. Last year, the Government was meant to deliver 3,500 affordable homes under those schemes but just 1,368 were delivered; it missed its targets by 61%. The most concerning thing is the cost of those homes. I am looking at a number of schemes under the affordable housing fund. In Ballincollig, Cork, for example, the entry-level price or lowest possible purchase price is €321,000, but the full price that will eventually have to be repaid by the owner is €395,000. In my constituency, at Seven Mills, the lowest entry price for a so-called affordable home is €335,000 and the full market price that will have to be repaid in the end is €435,000. In the Minister's constituency, and I accept this at the upper price change, the entry-level price for a so-called affordable home is €465,000, with the full market price of €565,000 to be eventually paid. Looking at cost rentals, it is the same picture. The LDA acquired a development from Cairn Homes, in what is now my constituency, in Citywest. The rents are eyewatering. Entry-level rent is almost €1,400 for a one-bedroom unit, almost €1,600 for a two-bedroom unit, and almost €1,800 for a three-bedroom unit. A gross income of between €75,000 and €100,000 is needed to be able to access those.

I ask the Minister to address the following issue. Affordable housing was primarily for those people-----