Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----but they need to be strengthened. We also need proper enforcement. These changes are coming in the legislation will be brought before before the Dáil in the next couple of weeks. If we work together, we will have that legislation passed very quickly and it will make a real difference for tens of thousands of people throughout the country.

It is not right when a young couple earning good money cannot afford to buy or rent a home, particularly when we see that the economy is going so well, with jobs being created and with many of the social changes that have happened. Not only can people move back home because there are jobs available, but they want to move back home to the new Ireland. How can we help them? We can help them by building new homes. We must do everything we can in that regard. For example, we streamlined the fast-tracked planning process, while 10,000 new places have been made available as a result of the new plan that came online only last year. This year 20,000 new places in which to live will be built and we expect to see 25,000 being built next year. That will do a lot for a lot of people, but we still need to do even more. As a Government, we have taken responsibility for social housing provision away from the private sector and given it back to the State. However, as Minister, I also recognise that it is not acceptable if someone who is not eligible for social housing and will receive all of the State supports will get practically nothing. That is why we need to focus on the issue of affordability. In the 12 months to June, roughly one in two first-time buyers across the country bought a home for less than €250,000. Clearly, many people are able to buy homes, although far too many are not. That is why, for the first time in seven years, I recommenced the affordable housing scheme and this year we are progressing cost rental and affordable housing programmes with the local authorities. Just because a site does not have a certain percentage of affordable scheme houses does not mean the rest of the houses on it are unaffordable; it just means that, for some of them, the State will provide extra help to help those who are working but still struggling.

We have put in place emergency responses to deal with the crisis, but we need more time and also new initiatives. We need to continue to drive the plan we have, as we did in dealing with the jobs crisis. That is how we find solutions. We need to be honest about the challenges we face. We will not pretend that one line in a law can resolve the homeless crisis and will not use housing as a weapon to divide the people.

See this speech in context