Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis was not caused by any one party, ideology or person. Its roots lie in the economic crisis and crash that occurred ten years ago. The Government of the time was broke and could not afford to build houses for many years. The banks were bust and could not finance housing. The construction industry had gone bust and was unable to build anything. Some 100,000 construction workers emigrated during that period and most of them have not returned. In the normal course of events, a country with Ireland's demographics should build between 30,000 and 35,000 houses each year. For seven years, we built almost no houses. That left us with a deficit of approximately 200,000 homes. It is going to take time to recover that deficit. It was always going to take time. As our five-year Rebuilding Ireland plan is now three and a half years old, it is reasonable to ask how we are doing and to look at some of the facts. In 2015, the year before Rebuilding Ireland, only 7,000 new homes were built in Ireland. More than 20,000 new homes will be built this year. Housing supply has more than trebled. House prices, which had been increasing by 7% a year, have now levelled off. Incomes are now rising faster than house prices. That is the best way to achieve affordability in the long term. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has already mentioned that we have embarked on the largest social housing programme in many decades. Some 10,000 social houses have been added to the housing stock this year. This is more than any other year in this century, regardless of boom or bust. We know from today's figures that rough sleeping has fallen to its lowest level in many years. It is terrible and shameful that 10,000 people are living in emergency accommodation tonight, but we must not forget that we have lifted 14,000 people out of homelessness and provided them with secure housing.

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