Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is at it again. The Government has just been caught out using dodgy housing data and talking about 40,000 homes completed last year and just now, he Minister told us work commenced on 60,000 homes in 2024, using the same dodgy data based on commencement notices filed and housing sites then lying idle, which has been happening all around the country. Do not take my word for that; Property Industry Ireland, the lobbyist for the investment funds that the Government listens to so much, said at the weekend that the 60,000 commencement notices in 2024 they will not, in fact, manifest in completed units. That is the lobbyist for the developers that the Minister listens to all the time saying those 60,000 homes will not, in fact, end up as completed homes. He might listen to them if he will not listen to us.

Last Thursday people started sleeping in their cars in Leixlip. Dozens of people, desperate to own their own home, queued for days for the chance to buy one of just 31 homes. These homes were not cheap. They ranged in price from €460,000 to €525,000 but when they went on sale on Saturday morning, they were gone within minutes and scores of people were left disappointed. What happened in Leixlip is a microcosm of the chaos in housing all across the country. Homes priced at €500,000 are not affordable for most people. Still, even when they go on sale, people must sleep in their cars for days to have any chance of buying them. People are increasingly desperate and this Government has nothing to say to reassure them. In fact, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spent the election campaign misleading them, repeatedly telling people that 40,000 homes would be delivered. They did not even come close to that figure. Now people can see that they were conned.

The latest proposals to address this are tax breaks for developers and sweetheart deals for investment funds. This is not the policy reset that he and his Government claim it to be. It is, in fact, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael reverting to type. We are constantly told there are not alternatives to getting this type of finance but there are other options. A report by Housing Europe - commissioned by one of Fianna Fáil's MEPs, by the way - goes into great detail about the billions of euro in funding from European Union funding streams that could be used to build affordable housing. Why is the Government ignoring this? It does not have to double down on failure. Does the Minister think people voted for more tax breaks for investment funds? Why were the Government parties not upfront about these proposals during the election campaign? As an alternative, will the Government use the European Union funding streams to finance the construction of housing that is affordable?

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