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

The Deputy's alleged facts are again wrong. There is no disagreement on the prioritisation of housing by this Government. In fact, over the past month or so we have seen a manifestation of the commitment by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to radically change the approaches to housing in terms of social housing, affordable housing, cost rental, getting voids back in use much more quickly, and in a whole range of supports for people to enable them to buy their own houses. The key issue will be supply.

The summer economic statement will outline the broad fiscal framework. The national development plan will outline the very significant capital investment the Government is going to undertake. The Housing for All strategy that the Minister will publish will equally outline a step change in terms of the construction of housing, social and affordable and right across the board, in terms of what is required. We all know that we need to build more houses. That is the key point.

The Deputy has asked me to listen to Sinn Féin. With the greatest respect, I have heard her party pontificate about housing on an ongoing basis, but it comes up with very few, if any, solutions. This is a political game for Sinn Féin. Its politics are fraudulent in terms of what it is doing here. It wants to exploit housing for electoral gain and no other reason. It does not ever come forward with substantive, clear solutions but it opposes a lot and it speaks out against a lot of initiatives that are taken. I do not know whether the Deputy wants me to listen to her and her party when they continue to oppose houses up and down the country. Is that the advice she wants me to take? Does she want me to stop the thousands of houses Sinn Féin has opposed and voted against in Dublin, for example? Is that the advice she wants me to take from her party? Is Sinn Féin really sincere about wanting more houses built, when it has stopped social and affordable houses in Tallaght, Clondalkin, Donabate and Swords? Is that the advice she wants me to take from Sinn Féin?

Some 22,000 people benefited from the help-to-buy scheme. Sinn Féin opposed the scheme. The Minister came forward recently with affordable housing initiatives, which Sinn Féin railed against. I noticed that despite railing against them, Sinn Féin quietly voted for them. That is interesting. It illustrates the degree to which this is a political game for Sinn Féin. There is a lack of sincerity at the heart of what Sinn Féin is about when it comes to the housing problem. The party says one thing in here and it does something alternative when it counts on the ground in terms of various projects because it is afraid of losing local electoral support.

The Housing for All strategy will represent the largest investment in social housing in the history of the State over a sustained period. It will also represent significant State intervention to provide affordable homes on State land for people who need to be able to access such houses. It will also outline supports for people who are in the market to buy houses, in particular, younger people. The Minister has already moved to take action on rent. In rent pressure zones, rents will not be allowed to increase beyond inflation in the future.

There has been a 48% reduction in homelessness among families in the past 12 months. That is good progress but it is not enough. We want to do more, and we must do more to deal with homelessness and in giving people access to all types of housing. The cost rental initiative is a very good one. That will make progress and it will expand in the future also. The legislation that has come through the House in the past six weeks in terms of the Land Development Agency and other matters, that Sinn Féin railed against, will make a difference-----

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