Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste has had 12 full years to deal with those constraints. As we now approach the end of 2022, house prices have never been as high in the history of the State. Rents have never been as high. Homelessness figures, which include 4,000 children, have never been as high in the history of the State. Thousands of people, who are contacting all of us, are locked out of homeownership. People cannot afford to get by. They are seeing rents increase over and over again. The Government continues to refuse to bring in a rent freeze. Is it not now time to accept, after nearly three years in government, that the plan is failing? House prices, rents and homelessness have gone up. I do not know what the Tánaiste is using to measure success but to my mind, that is failure.

A whole generation is locked out and is desperate. It is time to look at real delivery and bring forward a plan that actually expedites the delivery of social, affordable and cost-rental housing. The Government is blatantly failing to meet the targets. Less than half of the social housing that was promised by the Government, and only a quarter of the affordable housing, will be delivered this year. This is failure on any scale. Is it not time to stop defending a Minister and his failed plan, and instead come up with a better plan that actually delivers and listen to what we in the Opposition have been putting forward?

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