Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising what I agree is a really important issue regarding housing. From going across the country and engaging with young people and their parents, I know that home ownership can still feel out of the reach of many people. We are working day and night to change that. We are working every single day to make progress. I am very happy to report progress, because we are now building homes at levels not seen since 2008. Every single week in this country, 500 individuals or couples are buying their first home. As Deputy McDonald travels around the country, as I see she does, she must see those homes and meet those young people who have their first homes - homes that did not exist months or years ago that are now in place, with family lives starting in them.

Work on over 12,000 homes has started in the first quarter of this year alone. That figure is up 60% on the previous year. Over 12,000 homes were started in the first couple of months of 2024. We know many people who are renting want to buy as well so we are trying to put supports in place to help them with the cost of their rent. This is why we put a renter's tax credit in place. It made a difference, which is why we have kept it and increased it. It is why the three parties in government want to do even more to try to put a bit of money back into the pockets of renters so it can help them meet the rent and save for a deposit.

We have also put in place a number of schemes that I hope the Deputy will tell people she is against - the help-to-buy scheme, the first home scheme and the vacant property refurbishment grant. These are all practical ways to help people. In fairness to the Deputy, she has very honestly committed to getting rid of every one of these schemes so I wonder what she would say to the tens of thousands of people - more, in fact - who have benefited from those schemes. I wonder what she would say to their parents, who watch their child leave the box room and buy a home because of the help of those schemes, and why she says that if she is Taoiseach next year, none of those schemes would be in place. We are already doing affordable homes. There are affordable homes are being offered throughout the country, for as low as €225,000 in Waterford, €255,000 in Kilkenny and €300,000 in Dublin when we apply the affordable purchase discount. Later this week, the Minister for housing will make a further announcement in Dublin Fingal with regard to more affordable homes.

Last year saw over 4,000 affordable homes delivered, up from 1,750 in the previous year. We are on track for around 6,000 this year. I know the Deputy believes that for her to succeed politically, she needs the country's housing policy to fail but, unfortunately, that is not the case. Every single metric, in terms of supply, schemes, targets and capacity, is making progress but we know we have much more to do.

The Deputy asked me why I would not give one specific figure as to what an affordable home was. I gave a very honest answer in that regard, which is that it depends on the type of home, the person's circumstances and what part of the country it is in. I would ask the Deputy, 139 days after she told the people of this country that she would provide homes for €300,000 in Dublin, how she intends to do that, because the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion that will be debated in this House is not that. The motion talks about leasehold affordable schemes, where people will not actually ever own their own home. Again, maybe that gives an insight into the ideology of Sinn Féin when it comes to housing policy. Also, the motion does not talk about Dublin. It says it depends on where in the country the house will be. Will the Deputy admit, 139 days later, that she made a mistake, that she misspoke and then doubled down with regard to promising young people something she has no intention of delivering? When will Sinn Féin publish its all-encompassing housing plan to rival Housing for All?

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