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

Leaving that aside for the moment, there are very serious issues here, particularly around homelessness. The number one priority are the people who do not have a home. We need to make sure there is secure accommodation for them and we can have more people exit homelessness into permanent social homes. That is why the focus has been on delivering more new social homes. Last year, we built more new social homes than we have done in 50 years and we will do more this year. It is important that we do that.

Deputy Bacik's commentary on house prices is not borne out by the statistics. To take Dublin, for argument's sake, as per the Central Statistics Office, this is the tenth consecutive month of decline in house prices. Supply is catching up. The Deputy is right that we have had ten or 12 years of very significant undersupply. Affordable homes were delivered last year for the first time in a generation. We obviously need to do a lot more than that, and we will do that this year. This is why we are supporting first-time buyers. It is why we need private and public development and why we need the Land Development Agency delivering more, which it will this year. I remind the Deputy that her party opposed the Land Development Agency-----

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