Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Minister may think the property market will have a soft landing, but there is certainly no soft landing for first-time buyers. Is the Minister aware that the figures for the housing market show the percentage of houses bought by first-time buyers has declined rapidly, from over a half in 2004 to less than one third now? This clearly indicates first-time buyers are being squeezed out of the new house market, as they have already been squeezed out of the second-hand market.

The Minister adverted to the national development plan and social and affordable housing. Does he accept the Government has delivered just 45% of its own target for social and affordable housing? More than twice as much social and affordable housing would have been delivered to young families if the Government had met its targets. How does he square this with the complacency that seems to exist in Government circles? A body like the Central Bank, which is hardly a hotbed of social policy, tells us that half of young families cannot afford to buy a house, a figure that will increase to 60% if changes are not made.

The Government must get real with regard to first-time buyers and begin to deliver realistic opportunities for them to have affordable homes in places where they can have a sustainable lifestyle.

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