Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I echo the Minister of State's sentiments. The Opposition has been calling for a debate on housing for a while and has accused the Government of avoiding and not having the debate. When we eventually have it, one Opposition Member graces the benches. Well done, Deputy Ó Broin. There is no one here from the Social Democrats or the Labour Party. That is disappointing.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to address the House on housing matters. As highlighted by the Minister of State, the Government's clear focus is on building new homes, including social and affordable housing, particularly through new build projects delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency. Our goal remains a housing system that truly serves the needs of our people.

It is important to reflect on the progress we have made in recent years under Housing for All. It is easy to forget that in 2012 and 2013 we delivered less than 5,000 new homes each year. By 2020 and 2021, this had increased to 20,500 new-build homes added to the national housing stock per year. In 2022 and 2023, an undeniably significant step change in delivery was achieved, with almost 30,000 and over 32,500 houses delivered respectively, exceeding the Housing for All targets. More than 92,000 new homes were built from 2022 to 2024, an annual average of almost 31,000.

Despite the upward trajectory of supply through this period, there have been some recent disappointments, most notably the dip in the number of new homes built last year. This, in particular, brings into stark focus the enormous task of securing enough housing to meet our needs.

Over 32,500 social homes were added to the social housing stock between 2022 and 2024 under Housing for All. There is also a strong pipeline with over 24,000 social homes at all stages of design and build, which will be delivered over the coming years.

Housing for All also provided for the introduction of a number of new affordable housing supports, which have allowed the delivery of significant numbers of affordable homes through both new builds and homes brought back into use. These supports, including cost rental, are starting to deliver at scale and this momentum will continue as the pipeline is developed. Nearly 13,000 affordable housing supports were delivered in 2024 by approved housing bodies, local authorities and the Land Development Agency, alongside schemes such as the first home scheme and the vacant property refurbishment grant. Over 7,100 affordable solutions were delivered in 2024. This is the highest yearly delivery to date, exceeding the year's target of 6,400.

On 13 May, the Government approved an additional €30 million in State commitment to the first home scheme, bringing the total State commitment for the scheme to €370 million. Under the scheme, more than 6,700 buyers have been approved to date and more than 3,300 homes were bought using the scheme to the end of quarter 1 of 2025.

The Government is extremely focused on tackling vacancy and dereliction. We have provided a €150 million fund to end long-term vacancy and dereliction in towns and cities under the urban regeneration development fund. Up to the end of quarter 1 of 2025, over 8,652 approvals had issued already and €112 million has been paid out to refurbish almost 2,100 homes. We also extended the local authority home loan to help to finance the purchase and renovation of derelict and non-habitable properties. This Government will continue to roll out the largest social and affordable housing programme in the history of the State. This is demonstrated by the record level of investment being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding of almost €6.8 billion now available. The capital provision for 2025 is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing need.

Despite this undoubted progress, we must acknowledge that housing remains an enormous challenge. The number of new homes coming on stream each year is far short of where it needs to be. Over the past four years, we have learned there is no silver bullet solution to the challenges we face. The State has invested unprecedented levels of public money in the delivery of housing in recent years and we must continue to do so. We must consider every lever at our disposal to increase supply. We remain steadfast in our commitment to meet the challenges head-on and ensure that all those aspiring to independence in the housing market can realise their aspiration.

In the programme for Government, the Government has committed to delivering 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030, targeting at least 60,000 homes annually by the end of the period. The new targets are ambitious but provide a credible pathway to delivering the scale of housing needed. The targets are not a ceiling. We plan to revisit them in 2027 and if, reflecting demand and growing industry capacity, we need different targets for 2028 and subsequent years, we will revise them. Our immediate focus must be on achieving these targets.

Key to achieving these targets will be the delivery of new apartment developments in our cities and urban cores. Much of the investment needed for such developments must come from the private sector, financed through appropriate sources of private capital, much of which will come from international sources. This capital is critical to apartment delivery, particularly for the private rental sector. Many of the apartments delivered last year were State led, and while this secured much-needed social, cost-rental and affordable housing, it is not a sustainable long-term solution. A stable and certain policy environment will help to attract the private investment needed and the changes to rent pressure zones, RPZs, approved today by the Government will be critical in this regard. The Minister, Deputy Browne, will address this issue in further detail later. The approach agreed seeks to strike the right balance between protecting affordability for renters on the one hand, while encouraging new investment in the residential construction sector on the other. We can both protect renters and attract sustainable long-term investment to finance new homes for rent.

The Government has committed to introducing a new all-of-government housing plan to follow Housing for All, underpinned by a multiannual funding commitment. The new national housing plan, which will be published in the coming months, will focus on policies and structures that set us on a sustainable and resilient footing as we seek to secure a long-term pipeline of delivery and funding to 2030 and beyond.

I will return briefly to today's announcement in respect of RPZs. There is an effort and intention to try to increase the amount of investment and deliver units at scale. That will, as I have said, require private investment, private finance and international finance. That is one of the intentions of these proposals. The other intention is to provide security for renters. The extension of the RPZ nationally is a move that I am fully supportive of and squarely behind. To bring it to a local level, half of my constituency is within an RPZ and half is not. Half of my constituency is afforded the protection of an RPZ and the 2% cap on rent increases whereas my hometown of Clonakilty and the town of Skibbereen do not have that protection. The move made today provides that security for those tenants.

I welcome the comments and contributions of other Members and will listen to the debate.

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