Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising the BPFI report today, which confirms that we face an enormous challenge in relation to housing. The Government has been upfront and honest about the scale of that challenge. That is why we brought forward the Housing for All plan, which is showing significant signs of progress in relation to supply overall, which will reach the highest level for a long number of years. Close to 28,000 homes were built in the 12 months to the end of September. Nearly 21,000 homes were built in the first nine months of the year, which is more than the entirety of the previous year. As the Deputy knows, this year, overall under the Housing for All plan, the target is 24,600 units. We now expect that we will achieve over 26,000 units this year, which will be the highest level of output since 2008. There were more than 16,000 first-time buyers in the last 12 months, which is the highest number since 2007 and represents a third of all home purchases. Construction on over 26,600 homes commenced in the year to October.

While acknowledging the scale of the challenge we face, it is also only fair and proper that we acknowledge the fact that housing output is increasing significantly. There are headwinds in the private sector. We have been honest about that when it comes to labour shortages, which we are seeking to address through our apprenticeship system and through the employment permit system. There are challenges in relation to construction materials inflation, which we are again seeking to address through the inflation co-operation framework that is in place. There are challenges in relation to our planning system and a new comprehensive planning Bill will be brought into this House shortly. I hope it will meet with support across this House.

Many renters aspire to own their own home at some point in time. While not all of them do, many of them do. For those who do, we have introduced a whole range of new initiatives, including the first home scheme, FHS, shared equity scheme. Almost 1,000 applications have now been received and 200 contracts have now been executed. We have extended the help to buy scheme, which has helped 35,000 first-time buyers to get on the property ladder. We are targeting 5,000 new affordable homes through the Land Development Agency, LDA, by 2026. As the Deputy will know, they are engaging with the market in relation to Project Tosaigh and in particular in relation to sites where planning permission is in place but where there are viability challenges at this point in time. We have also empowered local authorities to invest through land purchase in order to bring forward affordable purchase schemes and they are doing that. Do we need more? Of course, we need more. The Government is providing a record amount of resources. For once in our nation's history, funding is not really the constraint. We need the public system to deliver and we need to partner with the private sector to make sure that it maximises output. The Deputy has raised particular issues around renters and we acknowledge that this is the case for new rental agreements. This is what the data represents because existing tenants have protections under the rent pressure zone, RPZ, system where the rent increase is capped at 2%.

Those renters should also know is what Sinn Féin is planning. Sinn Féin is planning a new tax of €400 on rental properties. It is planning to increase income tax on landlords, many of whom have incomes of over €100,000. It wants to increase income tax on them. For landlords with multiple properties and who may incur significant capital gains tax, Sinn Féin wants to increase capital gains tax.

At a time we need to increase the supply of rental accommodation, through what the State is doing directly but also by retaining existing investment in the market and attracting new investment, Sinn Féin's policies would further drive landlords out of the market. The Deputy needs to be honest about that.

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