Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Now I will take Leaders' Questions under Standing Order 36. The Standing Order allows for a brief question on a matter of topical public importance from each leader or representative of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats. The order of the House allows for three questions today, and the time allowed for Sinn Féin will be ten minutes.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Ten minutes?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Four-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Jesus.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Back and forth.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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You want ten minutes of me.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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No, no.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thought the Deputy might grab the opportunity.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It would be no bother.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am more than happy to speak for ten minutes; I have a lot to say.

Forty thousand is the number of new homes the Taoiseach and Simon Harris said they would build last year. It is a number that was repeated again and again throughout 2024, going into overdrive in the lead-up to last November’s general election. Let me recall for the Taoiseach some of his bluster. On social media in October, he said the country was coming close to having 40,000 homes built in 2024. On Virgin Media, again in October, he said "we've now got to about 40,000" new homes. Of course, he was not on his own. Simon Harris first floated the figure of 40,000 in August of last year. In October, he was at it again, saying new builds would be "well upwards towards 40,000", and he repeated this claim at the Fine Gael manifesto launch in November. Clearly, the claim of 40,000 new homes for 2024 was being used as an election ploy, an attempt to convince people that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had turned the corner on housing. Here is the catch: none of it was true. The figure of 40,000 new homes was pure fiction, a trick designed to mislead the public because the Government could not face an election based on the actual facts of its performance on housing, and not alone had the rate of house-building stagnated on the Taoiseach's watch but it was in fact going backwards. Now his election lies have been exposed and he has been caught out.

Two reports published in the past two weeks have exposed the Taoiseach’s election gimmick and laid bare again his failure on housing. The first is the report from the Central Statistics Office, which states that only 30,000 new homes were built in 2024. That is a far cry from the 40,000 homes the Taoiseach parroted throughout the election campaign. This report reflects the fact that the number of new homes has fallen from that of the previous year, 2023.

Yesterday, figures released by Construction Information Services Ireland indicated that only 29,136 homes were built last year. That is not even 30,000, not to mind the 40,000 the Taoiseach put up in lights for the election. The truth is that his claim of 40,000 new homes for 2024 was a load of bull, and well he knew it. However, he chose to repeat the claim again and again in an effort to mislead voters.

The housing crisis touches every part of our society. It has driven desperation and despair. It is bad enough that the Taoiseach has failed to solve this crisis but worse, he openly and knowingly deceived the public on this matter in the course of the last election. The Taoiseach is on the record repeatedly doing just that, so he needs to set the record straight. Cur i gcéill a bhí ann ó thús nuair a dúirt an Taoiseach go dtógfaí 40,000 teach sa bhliain 2024. Ba chóir dó agus don Tánaiste, Simon Harris, an fhírinne a insint. This is very straightforward. The Taoiseach and Simon Harris repeatedly gave false information to the public regarding new house builds. The figure of 40,000 was simply untrue. The Taoiseach now has the opportunity to correct the record and I ask that he avail of that opportunity today.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Níl aon dabht ann ach gurb í an ghéarchéim is mó atá againn sa tír seo ná an easpa tithíochta. Níl a dhóthain tithe againn. Caithfimid gach aon dícheall a dhéanamh chun i bhfad níos mó tithe a chruthú chomh tapa agus is féidir linn. Housing is the number one social priority in this country. It goes to the heart of cohesion in this country, and it is the Government's priority, as it was during the lifetime of the previous Government. During the lifetime of the previous Government, from about 2020 onwards, close to 130,000 homes were built. We exceeded our targets in Housing for All in 2022 and 2023 significantly by more than 7,400. In 2024 the target was 33,000 in Housing for All and we did not meet that target.

In addition, there were estimates. Deutsche Bank predicted in excess of 40,000 houses. EY-Euroconstruct predicted 36,000 houses last July and Cairn Homes also predicted close to 40,000 houses. My commentary then was a genuine belief that we were heading for the high 30,000s. It was a genuine belief. There was no attempt to mislead anybody in that regard. I have to make that point. These were external groupings making estimates regarding the prospects for a high figure in 2024.

Of course, we know that because of the initiative we took in terms of waiving development levies and so on, commencements were dramatically increased over the last year and a half in respect of that. The bottom line as far as I am concerned is that I am very disappointed with the outturn for 2024. We got the figure wrong in terms of what we thought might happen. The target was 33,000. We thought it would be much higher than that. I regret that. However, what it means is that we have to fundamentally increase that figure. All parties in the general election had figures around 50,000 per year. The ESRI is suggesting that was the average and that we need to get to 60,000 by 2030. The issue, though, is how we get the figures to that 50,000 per year.

We need a fundamental shift, not just within the Government but in the Oireachtas more generally, in our approach and our attitude to private sector investment in housing. That is needed because, whether we like it or not and whether it is palatable or not, a lot of what has happened has disincentivised private investment in housing. The State is the biggest investor. We allocated €6 billion for 2025, the highest ever capital allocation to housing. The State will not be able to do it all on its own in terms of the 50,000 that people identify as our need. It may be even higher than that. Therefore, if everybody wants to be honest about figures, the issue of how we get there is the core question. When we exceeded targets in 2022 and 2023, the response from the Opposition was that the targets were too low.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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They were.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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No, they were not.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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The incompetence was high; the targets were low.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Clearly the targets-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----were realistic because targets are-----

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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That is the build-up.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----assessed by a number of factors.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is the Opposition's fault.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Need is a different question to target. Need relates to our population growth.

We have to devise methods, mechanisms and policies that get us to what we need. I do not dispute what we need. Different parties had different programmes in the last general election.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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For the first time, the Taoiseach and, by extension, the Government have openly accepted that they have missed their targets. I suppose that is progress of some sort. The fact remains that the Taoiseach deliberately and repeatedly used a figure of 40,000 new homes for 2024 when he has to have known that this was not going to be delivered. He cites Deutsche Bank but he knows that by the final quarter, the CSO, ESRI, the Central Bank itself, all of that data reflected that 40,000 was always fictitious. It was never realisable, yet the parties of Government, the Taoiseach and Deputy Simon Harris in particular, insisted on repeating a falsehood of 40,000 again and again. This was specifically to dodge the very necessary debate around the "how" of delivery. Could the Taoiseach go a bit further and make it explicit that the figure of 40,000 was wrong and was not delivered in 2024? Could he express, even, some regret for using that figure in the course of the election?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Could I say to the Deputy that if we take the three years combined, 2022, 2023 and 2024----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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----we exceeded our targets by close to 5,000 houses. That is not of interest to the Deputy.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach is not interested in people who cannot get houses.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The bottom line of the general election is that the programme Sinn Féin put forward did not persuade people. It wanted to dramatically disrupt and change the Land Development Agency.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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The bottom line is that you got elected.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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It was your policies that led to the deficit.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin wanted to get rid of the help-to-buy scheme and the first home scheme, which are so beneficial to first-time buyers. Its programme did not persuade.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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We did not lie to people.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy, please. Let the Taoiseach answer the question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The platform as to how Sinn Féin was going to achieve a housing breakthrough or higher numbers simply did not persuade people.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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We were honest with the electorate. We told the truth, Taoiseach.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Serial objectors - €300,000 new houses.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Even your own people are mortified, Taoiseach.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy Ó Broin, please.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has got to acknowledge that is the reality of it. We have exceeded targets in two years. In the third year, we did not. I am extremely disappointed with that. The estimates out there from the entities I have identified were clearly pointing in a direction which did not turn out to be the case.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Today at last and after an unnecessarily long break, we have arrived at the first Leaders' Questions session of this new Government term. I want to raise the emergency situation affecting communities all across this island, that is, the ongoing fallout from Storm Éowyn. At the outset, my thoughts and those of my Labour Party colleagues are with all those families and households that have been so severely impacted by the storm. Many households are still continuing to suffer the consequences of the storm itself along with the weakened infrastructure and insurance and cost implications they are now facing into the future. I am sure all of us agree that our thanks go to the front-line workers who have been working tirelessly to restore power and water supplies to communities, often in dangerous conditions. People from affected communities have a multitude of justified concerns about the Government's response to the crisis. They speak with one voice when they say they need help. They have been really severely impacted. I have heard from families who were tragically forced to wake their dead relatives by candlelight, from parents unable to cook a hot meal for their bored and cold young children, from older people left terrified and isolated by power outages and fallen trees, from people with chronic health conditions whose appointments were cancelled or they could not access them. I heard today from one family in Roscommon who are still without power and will likely remain so until this coming weekend. They say they have had no electricity, heat or water since 24 January. This has been the case four times now in the last ten weeks. They ask what the Government is going to do about this. They need greater supports, as do all those affected. They cannot afford the financial cost the ESB is now saying it may pass on to all consumers to cover the cost of repairs. This is especially wrong at a time when the ESB is reaping operating profits of nearly €500 million.

It is projected that Ireland will face more frequent weather disasters as global temperatures rise. We are already witnessing more regular awful weather events such as hurricane Ophelia and storms Babet, Darragh and Eunice in recent times.

More storms, freezes and floods are likely, due to climate change, which will bring more disruption and more damage. There is a careful balancing act. We must take decisive climate action to play our part in mitigating climate chaos but we must also build real resilience against inevitable weather disasters by building up security in our energy sector, our water systems, our broadband and our transport networks. We must ensure the necessary transition to cleaner energy will not leave communities behind. The first national climate change risk assessment will be published soon by the EPA and will help us better to understand how to adapt our infrastructure.

What will the Government do on behalf of the families and households we have all heard from to protect our infrastructure and to support struggling households trying to cope now with the aftermath of the storm and struggling to meet bills? What urgent supports will it provide to communities to restore infrastructure?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Stoirm uafásach a bhí ann, is dócha an ceann is measa a bhí againn riamh. Níl aon amhras faoi sin. Caithfimid a bheith an-bhuíoch do gach éinne a thug cabhair agus tacaíocht do dhaoine ar fud na tíre. This was a severe, unprecedented storm, the likes of which we have not witnessed in living memory. It caused widespread devastation throughout the country, particularly along the western seaboard and in the north west of our country. Many people have suffered a lot during this period because of power outages, lack of water and, very worryingly for many people, the collapse of the communications network as a result of the ferocity of the wind and the storm itself. It was the worst storm, I would say, in a century.

The first priority of all involved in planning and of the national co-ordinating group was to protect lives. Unfortunately, we had one fatality in Kacper Dudek. There could have been many more. The red alert warning was effective and impactful, and we should never lose sight of that. There are issues we have to re-evaluate in respect of how we do the red, orange and yellow system. That is under way.

In terms of the grid, I have already taken action. I met with the Minister for climate, the Department and the Tánaiste. I asked, and it is happening, that we accelerate the grid infrastructure capital plan and bring elements forward. We want that done within the next month in order that we move very fast to make the grid more resilient. I agree that the severity of storms and the frequency of such severe storms is only going to increase. In fact, if we look at the figures over the past 20 years, there is a dramatic increase in both the volume and severity of storms. We have to make our country more resilient. That will mean substantial funding for adaptation in the updated national development plan, which we need to do far more on across the board. In respect of the grid, there are some practical things we can do very quickly. We have to cut through a lot of regulatory frameworks to enable us to do that in terms of proper corridors for the grid, where we do not have trees and forests impacting on the grid as they did in this particular storm. Human safety and health have to be the priority. That is going to happen in respect of the grid.

In respect of water, and I will be meeting with the utility companies in this respect, it was not good enough that Irish Water did not have generators in place at all locations. That is now happening and the same situation will not happen again.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will say more on that if I get a chance.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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We all appreciate just how ferocious this storm was. I join with the Taoiseach in expressing sympathy to the family of the young man, Kacper Dudek, so tragically killed. It is simply unacceptable, however, that we still have 18,000 homes, farms and businesses without power so many days on from the outbreak of the storm. It is clear that much more urgent action is necessary from the Government to invest the money we in the Labour Party called on it to invest in the grid. We called for investment of some of the Apple moneys in building up the grid so that we would build in that resilience.

There is also the issue of the lack of supports for households. One constituent told me that she recalls during Covid how swiftly funding was put in place for the hospitality industry to be able to serve outside, just for example. Why do we not see funding available from the Government to provide those in the most affected areas with support to put in place measures to mitigate against inevitable future power outages?

These include the generator supplies that the Taoiseach mentioned and the sort of emergency backup facilities that were so sadly lacking in many of the most affected areas. What we want to hear today from the Taoiseach is a clear outline of substantive measures that can be put in place now to support families.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are 3,000 ESB Networks crew members, with crews from the UK, France, Finland, Germany, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands. I thank all of the 3,000 people involved in all of those crews. We can say “Do it faster" but they have been working day and night since the storm began. There is no additional capacity other than what is there in those 3,000 crew members. I think we have to pay a very strong, sincere tribute to the crews of ESB Networks and all those crews who came from overseas to help us in what was the worst storm in living memory.

In the last framework for ESB Networks, the cost of the capital investment from 2020 to 2025 was about €5 billion. The estimate is that we have to go to €13 billion in the next five years. That is the level of change and investment that will be required to make our grid resilient. I am determined to do that, and this Government is determined to do that, and we will work with Deputy Bacik if she has any additional ideas in that regard.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I have watched the Taoiseach's answers in the Dáil Chamber over the last five years. I have to say the answer he gave on housing and the 40,000 homes is one of the weakest I have ever seen him deliver in this House. He said he had a genuine belief that 40,000 homes would be delivered, based on estimates from private entities. Why did the Taoiseach completely disregard the hard data coming from the official State bodies, like the CSO, which were completely disputing his claim of 40,000 homes? Why did the Taoiseach not accept that data from the CSO? Is it only when it comes to housing completions in an election year that he does not listen to CSO data? Is that the case? Is it that for everything else he accepts CSO data, but not when it comes to housing completions in an election year? Can the Taoiseach explain why he does not accept the official data sources from the Central Bank, the ESRI and the CSO? Although the Taoiseach, the then Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, were saying 40,000 homes, all of those bodies were disputing that and the Government was not listening. Why is that?

In the run-up to the election, the Government spin on this was relentless. It was said time and again that the housing plan was working and that 40,000 homes would be delivered. The Government did this despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. It ignored all of the reports from the CSO, the Central Bank and the ESRI that said housing delivery would be nowhere near 40,000 homes. In a video posted during the election, the Taoiseach said that when the Government came into office, we had 20,000 houses being built a year, and we are now coming close to 40,000. Deputies Darragh O'Brien and Simon Harris likewise made similar statements, and Deputy O'Brien even claimed at times that there was going to be in excess of 40,000 homes delivered. In fact, we got 10,000 fewer homes than the 40,000 promised, which was a 7% decrease on the year before.

Let us be clear about this. These claims were made as recently as last November, just ten weeks ago. For those to have stood up, there would have to have been 10,000 additional homes near completion at that point. There were not. Those homes do not exist. This is not just an academic issue about numbers. This is about people whose hopes and dreams of affording their own home are being shattered by this lack of delivery. Was the Taoiseach’s claim that 40,000 homes would be delivered last year a deliberate deception? Does he regret misleading the public on this?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I have said already, housing is the number one issue. It was not, in any shape or form, a deliberate attempt to mislead people. I have quoted those who early in the year and mid-year were predicting close to 40,000, such as EY-Euroconstruct, Deutsche Bank and Cairn Homes.

Others, by the way, in other years the Deputy identified, underestimated the number of houses that were subsequently built. That is something Deputy O'Callaghan has not spoken of. We exceeded our targets in 2022 and in 2023, which the Deputy dismissed at the time. The Deputy engaged in significant political commentary as opposed to at least acknowledging the fact we exceeded targets in 2022 and 2023.

I also have to put it to the Deputy that, throughout the past four years, his party's policy position was to oppose significant legislation and initiatives that led to increased housing, particularly on the affordable side. They opposed the Land Development Agency Act, the Affordable Housing Act and the planning Act. You have shown no sense of urgency around the housing crisis. I believe the Deputy has been too ideologically wedded to certain fundamentals-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Oh wow.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in terms of the housing issue and the housing market.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Mr. No ideology.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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One of the challenges we have, and it will remain a challenge irrespective of what gets said, is how we balance the unprecedented level of State investment in housing with private sector investment in housing, because if we want to get to 50,000 homes per year, we are going to have to do that. That will need fairly focused, specific change in what we have been doing. I acknowledge that.

I have said we are disappointed we did not reach our targets, and I regret that very strongly, but it just redoubles my effort to have an honest look-----

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Honest?

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Honest after the election.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----at all of the initiatives that have happened in recent years and where we have to do more. I would respectfully suggest it is not in opposing every initiative the Government comes forward with. It is not taking safe options such as saying it all has to be social housing on one side or nothing, which delayed housing schemes-----

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Nobody said that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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You did - which delayed housing schemes for years in this country. Absolute fundamentalism in respect of how things should happen has held back housing growth in this country. I am going to put it to the Deputy that we are going to take initiatives here and I would welcome his support for them, instead of what has happened over the past four years, where you have opposed every single progressive measure designed to get increased output in housing.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Ten out of ten to the Taoiseach for deflection and evasion. Where are the 40,000 homes the Taoiseach promised? Why, as Taoiseach, when it comes to housing completions data, does he accept reports from private entities and reject the data from the CSO?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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You rejected data, actually.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Why? The Taoiseach has not answered that. He failed to answer that. Is it only when it comes to housing completions in an election year that he does not listen to CSO data-----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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You rejected CSO data last year.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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----- or is it when it suits him?

For years, no one could trust Fianna Fáil after then Ministers Noel Dempsey and Dermot Ahern could not keep a straight face when they were denying there was going to be a bailout of the banks after the economic crash. The Taoiseach worked hard to try to rebuild trust in Fianna Fáil and he is throwing that away by going into election years and making claims about 40,000 homes that he could not stack up and that the Central Bank, ESRI and CSO were not backing up. I will ask my question again. Does the Taoiseach regret misleading the public on this?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, as I said to the Deputy, and I will say again, there was no attempt to mislead the public on this. That is the first point.

I will make another point. We used ESRI data for our election targets in housing, which the Deputy's party did and everybody did. The fundamental question is how the targets are achieved. That is the core question. What the Social Democrats put forward on its election manifesto and programme did not persuade people that it had a silver bullet on housing because it did not. I met with the Social Democrats and the Labour Party during talks on the formation of Government and you were extremely poor in terms of what you brought forward: no fleshing out-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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You did not even know what was in our housing policy.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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One of your main contributions to that meeting, and I remember it well, was you looking at your watch: nudge, nudge, time to get out to make the 6 o'clock news for the soundbite. That was your contribution to Government talks.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies, please. No clapping.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is what happened. We saw it on our side: nudge, nudge, look at the watch, we better get out and get the 6 o'clock news.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Social Democrats had no commitment to going into Government.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Answer the question.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach. Your time is up.