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

Fianna Fáil has not been in government for six years, as the Deputy said. We have been in government for two and a half years and, since then, we have made significant efforts on the housing issue. It is the biggest social issue facing us. We have a lot more to do but, this year, we have the highest number of housing completions since 2008. We have the highest number of commencements on record, the highest number of planning permissions since 2007, the highest number of first-time buyers, at 16,000, since 2007 and the highest number of home buyers since 2008. Also, the highest number of social houses will be provided this year. Progress is being made and we will reach our target of 25,000 houses this year.

What held the Government back were the two shutdowns during Covid over the past two years, which depressed construction activity in house building but we had to do it because of Covid and the lockdowns. We were then hit with the dramatic increase in the costs of building materials, such as steel, timber and so on, because of the supply chain issues that arose out of the economic recovery from Covid and the war in Ukraine.

Notwithstanding those storms, and we need balance in all this, in fairness, not just the usual knockabout stuff the Deputy and his party go on with, ignoring Covid, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine and just shouting "failure, failure, failure", we have developed solid foundations legislatively through the Land Development Agency, for example, the Affordable Housing Act and various schemes such as the first home scheme to help first-time buyers, in addition to the existing help-to-buy scheme. Fianna Fáil, a party the Deputy attacked, is committed to building more social houses and, along with our colleagues in government, we are determined to do that. Our colleagues in the three Government parties will look at any additional measures that can be brought on board to increase housing supply and get more houses into use for people who need them.

In Cork, some very good work has been done by both Cork City Council and Cork County Council, to be fair.

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