Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy raising this issue again. Some 7,100 affordable housing solutions were delivered in 2024, exceeding the delivery target of 6,400. Since we came into office in 2020, nearly 13,000 affordable housing options have been delivered by the various delivery partners. Help to buy has helped young people to afford to buy first time new-build houses. Bridge the gap has also helped first-time buyers in terms of affordability. Those are schemes the Deputy's party opposed, which raises the fundamental question of how it would have assisted people when it comes to affordability in the context of new homes.

The Government will always consider new proposals, but this is about supply. I read the article by Deputy Hearne in respect of the Social Democrats' version of a special savings incentive account, SSIA, scheme to create funding for affordable homes. That does not actually build homes. It can perhaps help to create funding, but it will not lead to homes being built in the short term. The Deputy said it is an alternative to investment funds. We do not have too many investment funds investing in housing in the Irish economy right now, and that is a problem.

We had an SSIA scheme in the past. It was roundly criticised at the time. We have moved into a new era. The Government is open to consideration of a range of issues. The more fundamental point is how we get 50,000 houses built. I have genuinely yet to see anything from the Opposition that answers that question. The Government has built in or around 30,000 units. There has been a step change in the past four years from where we were, but this has taken huge investment on the part of the Government. On its own, that will not suffice.

We accept the argument that additional funding is required. We need private sector funding. The Deputy seems to suggest that a savings and investment type scheme would be an alternative to investment funds. I argue that we need to attract investment into Ireland in order to get more private sector supply and add to the €6 billion plus the Government will put into housing this year. We have added €800 million already, so the figure for 2025 will be more than €7 billion in terms of Government funding for housing. We need alternative sources of funding to add to that.

If the Deputy wants to put forward a detailed proposal in that respect, we will gladly receive it. I read one article on the matter. It is not clear from said article as to how that would cause a significant ramping up of construction of housing. We are open to any proposals on that front that the Deputy's party may have. If the Social Democrats can give us a detailed blueprint of the proposed scheme, we will certainly assess it.

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