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

The reality of a dramatic escalation in prices throughout the world has also hit Ireland. There is not a single person in this House who has denied this and no person can honestly say that the Government has failed to act, particularly to protect the most vulnerable. A total of €9 billion has been put in place in a range of measures to limit the impact of rising prices. The biggest single part of this has been direct aid for households. Through a mixture of significant permanent increases in payments, the expansion of support schemes and major once-off payments to tackle short-term pressures, we have implemented a highly progressive programme of help at this critical time.

The Opposition also thinks that the pandemic is not worthy of mention, ignoring the leading role that the Government played in limiting its economic and health impacts. It has nothing to say about one of the world's most successful vaccine campaigns or the fact that our policies meant that Ireland has recovered faster than any comparable country.

We have also begun implementing a radical programme to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies. This has involved putting in place sustained investment as well as implementing many tough measures. Most of these measures have been opposed by the majority of the Opposition committed as always to pretending that even the most difficult problems can be addressed without having to inconvenience anyone.

As we have demonstrated once again this week, we are determined to deliver a step change in the provision of housing. A new era in building public housing has begun and actions are being taken to address each element of the housing supply chain. Schemes specifically designed to help people with affordable homes have been put in place and are helping families throughout the country. Any honest discussion about housing would start with the fact that we need to build more homes and do so over a sustained period. This demands secure funding and a concerted programme to remove very real barriers to construction and affordability. Home completions, planning permissions and first-time buyers are up to the highest levels since 2008. Up to 30,000 new homes were completed in 2022 - an increase of 45% over the previous year. This year, we have a very strong target to replicate our performance last year. First-time buyers are at the highest level since 2008 thanks to Government supports. Up to 20,000 new social homes have been added to the housing stock under the Government. We are making every effort to increase housing supply and to enable this, we now have 40,000 more people working in construction than in 2021.

When the three parties that formed the Government agreed to work together, we each accepted that we had to be able to compromise and work together to deal with a series of exceptional challenges. In less than three years, we have succeeded in restoring our economy, helping people through a terrible pandemic and using the growth we have created to fund ambitious and progressive investments in services and public infrastructure. We have done this in the face of a consistently cynical and destructive Opposition, which pretends that until everything has been done, nothing has been done. With confidence in our record and our agenda for the remainder of our term, I am happy to support the motion that Dáil Éireann has confidence in this Government.

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