Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is just empty rhetoric and nonsense. Housing construction is not being led by developers. I have said repeatedly that 18,000 houses will be built this year if we can get there. Covid-19 has had a negative impact. More than half of those houses will be built by public initiative. Next year, 12,750 houses will be socially delivered. Some 9,500 of those houses will be built by local authorities or approved housing bodies. The old political ideological mantra that housing policy is being led by developers is a complete untruth. It is not.

We need more houses built by the private sector, the public sector and approved housing bodies. It is time for local authorities to bite the bullet where particular schemes are concerned. They should take ideology out of the room and get some housing schemes delivered. Perhaps Deputy McDonald could commit that her party will stop objecting, as all parties should do.

I agree that this is a crisis. It is a crisis for many young people and many homeless people. I have always said it is a crisis. It will take some time to get to the bottom of it. We can only collectively deal with it if we take ideology out of the room, allow mixed-development schemes to go through and stop constantly objecting. Sometimes particular local issues can arise, but there is a consistent thread here - if a development does not fit in Sinn Féin's particular ideological prism it will not happen. Sinn Féin needs to loosen up in terms of affordability. That party's strictures exclude many people who desperately need help and support. Deputy McDonald has not addressed her consistent opposition to the first-time buyers' grant, from which 19,500 people have benefitted. I really would like her to confirm that she will vote for the legislation the Minister is bringing through the House this evening.

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