Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. He is welcome here, as ever. Recent Eurostat figures stated that 68% of people between the ages of 25 and 29 still live at home with their parents. In Denmark, I think it was 4%, in Finland, I think it was 5% and in Sweden, I think it was 6%. In Ireland, 68% of people between the ages of 25 and 29 still live in their childhood bedrooms. They can only dream of home ownership. For those who rent, we know they live in a complete nightmare, despite Senator McDowell coming into the House saying that landlords are in a desperate situation altogether. People who rent can lose their tenancies if the home is sold, if the landlord decides to move in or if the landlord's family member decides to move in. There is no protection in those cases and there is certainly no protection if your name does not even go on the lease.The Taoiseach disputed the Eurostat figures, and the Minister may also have done so. Even at 30% or 31%, the CSO figures are outrageous.

Fine Gael has been in government for 12 years. Fianna Fáil has supported it for seven, and the two have been in a formal coalition for three and a half years. During that time, house prices have increased by 28%. Rents have increased by 25%, costing almost €4,000 more per year. Homelessness among adults, children and pensioners is at a record high, with no sign of the upward trend changing anytime soon. The Government is in trouble with its social and affordable housing targets.

Today, we in Sinn Féin launched our detailed alternative to the Government's budget on housing. The focus of that is on delivering affordable homes. We made provision for an additional €1.4 billion of Government capital expenditure and €300 million for AHB borrowing to deliver 21,000 social, affordable and affordable purchase homes next year. It is possible to reach that target in a single year by increasing investment, cutting red tape, increasing the use of vacant and derelict homes, increasing the use of new building technologies and redirecting building workers to where they are needed rather than building - because the Minister invited them into this country - the types of developments we do not need such as luxury student accommodation, luxury grade-A office blocks and luxury apartments that nobody can afford.

We also set out an emergency response to the escalating homelessness crisis with a specific measure to end homelessness for over-55s in a single year and dramatically reduce child homelessness through the delivery of 1,000 additional social homes using emergency planning and procurement laws and new building technologies. We would also double the delivery of Housing First tenancies for single people in emergency accommodation to 500. Our alternative budget stands up for renters, outlining what a real rent tax credit would look like alongside a three-year ban on rent increases, which the Minister refuses to do.

Our alternative budget also sets out how to improve the quality of existing housing stock, how to address the needs of our Travelling community, people with disabilities, how to rise to the challenge of climate change, how to deliver 100% redress to all those impacted by building defects and defective block, and how to properly resource our planning system. I am hearing all sorts of chatter under the Minister's breath. He has had all the time he needs to sort the housing crisis. It is time for a change of Government and a housing plan that will undo decades of bad housing policy in this country.