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

-----even in respect of a very simple question as to where Sinn Féin's housing plan is.

In 2022, the first full year of delivery under Housing for All, we delivered close to 30,000 homes, 5,000 more than our target. We saw continued progress in 2023 and we are seeing it again this year, as the plan and its many reforms have gained a firm footing. In 2023, we delivered more than 32,600 new homes, the highest level of delivery in 15 years. That does not just happen. In 2023, almost 12,000 new social homes were delivered, an increase of more than 15% on 2022. A total of 10,263 were delivered in 2022 and we have upped that to almost 12,000, the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing in half a century, and we will do more of that this year. The record figures are a testament to the positive effects Housing for All is having for tens of thousands of people. More than 100,000 homes have been built under that plan.

I have always acknowledged, as I will continue to do, that times are still very challenging for those who are struggling to buy a home or pay rent, and that is why the measures we have brought forward are so important, such as delivery through the Land Development Agency, the supports through the first-home scheme, the help-to-buy grant and social homes at a scale we had not seen in 50 years. Far too many people are experiencing homelessness. That is our most pressing challenge, but Sinn Féin has not mentioned that in its motion. It is why we need to get supply up and be serious about it, which we are doing, but it has to be done on a scaled business. You do not just click your fingers and go from 33,000 homes to 60,000 overnight. Supply is key in every part of the country, as we can see. The Government has put affordability and the chance to own your own home at the heart of our housing system, and the same is true of social housing.

Of course there are still issues to be dealt with, but I would credit people with far more intelligence than Deputy Ó Broin does with his motion and its mention of a Sinn Féin affordable housing plan that no one has seen and of a leasehold interest-----

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