Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

----but we can debate that on another day.

Deputy Farrell is not wrong that housing remains the biggest challenge facing young people in this country. We can have a debate, as we do in this House all the time, about what the best solutions are in terms of providing opportunities. The fact that we are now seeing about 500 people purchase their first home every single week, the highest figure we have seen in many years, is an encouraging sign. That we now have schemes in place to get a deposit and bridge the gap between what people can save and what they need to get a deposit is a good thing. It is important that we are going to do more on student accommodation. In my Department and the Department the Deputy shadows, the fact that we are going to make sure we continue to train more people to build homes is good. Some people will always leave the country and sometimes people will come back. More people are coming back than are leaving. From a graduate point of few, the HEA survey provides an insight into how many people go straight into the world of work and how many people continue on in education. I am encouraged that those figures increased between 2020 and 2022. I also acknowledge that we need to do more in terms of data around apprenticeships.

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