Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht a cheist. To deal with facts, as opposed to his contribution, he will know that last year we delivered just short of 30,000 new homes, 5,000 more than the target set, in the first year of Housing for All. The Deputy might like to ignore the fact that it was a difficult year, with the difficulties relating to supply chain, inflation - real world issues - and the pandemic. While ignoring that, he ignores his own party's policies in respect of first-time buyers. We now have more first-time buyers drawing down mortgages each week than we have had since 2007. The reason for that is the support this Government and I, as Minister, are putting in place.

I will name the supports for the Deputy and he can come back to tell me what he would do instead. The help-to-buy grant puts €30,000 of people's own tax back in their pocket to help with a deposit. That tax credit has been claimed by 41,000 households, with more in the first quarter of this year than we have seen in many years. What would the Deputy's party do? His colleague sitting beside him is on the record as stating he would abolish it. The policy of Deputy Ó Broin and Sinn Féin is to get rid of the taxback that people have earned and paid to help them buy a house. That is clear. The second assistance we brought in under the Affordable Housing Act was the first home scheme. That scheme helps people bridge the gap between the finance they have and what they need through the State stepping in and taking an equity. Again, the Deputy's colleague seated alongside him tried to scuttle that before it was even published. He said it would be a second mortgage and lead to house price inflation, none of which has happened. What has happened is that we have had more than 2,500 approvals. Those 2,500 families have been enabled to buy their own home by the State giving them equity, many of whom were renters or living at home but wanted to buy. I have met these people. I have visited people, not in Australia but here in the Twenty-six Counties of the Republic, who are actually buying their homes with the assistance of the Government. Inexplicably, the third thing Sinn Féin opposes for some crazy reason, because many of the Deputy's colleagues behind him keep asking me to alter and expand the grant further, is the vacancy grant. The Croí Cónaithe vacancy grant provides €50,000 for a vacant property and €70,000 for a derelict one. Again, Sinn Féin opposes it.

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