Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It would do that. That is fine but come out and say it. What is the party's alternative for those 1,300 families next year? I have shown a pathway out of leasing and I have shown the way in which we are going to increase our social housing delivery to a level never seen before in this State, starting in 2022.

Sinn Féin has also said, in predictable criticisms that have been put forward here this evening and previously, that the Government does nothing for renters. I have covered some of what we are doing already but let us look at what Sinn Féin is completely ignoring, namely, the 62,000 households in rented accommodation that are supported by the housing assistance payment, HAP, the 18,000 households who are being supported through homeless HAP and the almost 17,500 households supported under the rental assistance scheme, RAS. This equates to just short of €800 million in real supports for real people and real families. Sinn Féin ignored these households and did not even mention them in its budget submission. I am already reducing the dependency on HAP by reducing the level of increase but Sinn Féin says that it will cancel it. What is it going to say to the thousands of families out there? It does not have a solution for them.

These are very real questions and it is incumbent on the main Opposition party to start to be honest with people and say what it will do. This is a party that feigns an interest in solving the housing crisis. It is a party that voted against at least 17 housing motions totalling nearly 7,300 homes right across this country. Sinn Féin does not want to see real progress in housing because it does not suit its political agenda but I will not be deterred by its disingenuous and cynical approach. We have a radical plan that will deliver 300,000 homes between now and 2030, comprising 90,000 social homes and at least 54,000 affordable homes. These are real homes for real people and our plan is backed by real money and will deliver. Projections into next year, which might not suit the main Opposition party, are actually positive. They are positive in relation to housing delivery. We are going to see significant increases in housing delivery, particularly in social housing delivery, right across this country. We are going to see affordable and cost-rental homes at scale. What we will be judged on is delivery, not Twitter videos or Facebook posts but-----

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