Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The facts on the ground paint a very different picture from the one the Taoiseach has painted. Let us take his city of Cork. Since he became Taoiseach, rents have increased by 15% to €1,400 per month. Average house prices in Cork have increased 20% under his tenure to €320,000. Homelessness is up an astonishing 26%, which is the highest it has ever been and higher than the high point of September 2019. Social housing need is approximately 7,000 households yet the Government's housing plan will only meet approximately 45% of that through to 2026. The latest affordable housing figures just agreed with Cork City Council are going to provide just 75 affordable homes to purchase per year in the Taoiseach's city for the lifetime of this Government.

The Taoiseach's legacy will be the highest house prices and rents in the history of the State, a shrinking private rental sector, high homelessness levels and a failure to meet social and affordable housing need, and that was before we had the Ukrainian refugee crisis. I urge him to put aside the misleading briefings that he is being given, reflect on the failure of his housing pan and put in place a new housing plan that means no person or family is left behind.

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