Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is no problem. I want to speak on housing in Longford, where I come from, which has a population of 45,000 people, and where we stand on housing. Since 2016, when Housing for All or Rebuilding Ireland policies were brought in by Fine Gael, nearly 1,000 houses have been completed in County Longford, nearly 1,000 new and refurbished social houses and more than 170 families have submitted claims to the help to buy scheme. On the most recent scheme brought in, the Croí Cónaithe scheme, more than 100 applications have been made by families to access that scheme. People say we do not have an affordable housing scheme in County Longford, but Croí Cónaithe is an affordable housing scheme. It gives a family an opportunity to obtain up to €100,000 off the price of a house, be it €50,000 or €70,000 if it is a derelict property. Add to that the SEAI grants, which are also funded by the Government, and there is in the region of €100,000 towards the price of a property and a family home. Anyone who says the Government is not providing the finance and providing housing is totally off the mark.

A comment was made about the recent commission report and the comments made about the Government's policy. The reality is the Government's policies are working. Some of the big builders such as Hynes, Ballymore and Quintain, those people building and delivering houses, are fearful of a change in Government. They are fearful of a change in policy. They use words like "significant concerns". If we shift the policy of Government, which is working, we are actually going to slow dramatically. These are their words. We are going to slow dramatically if radical plans are put in place by an alternative Government. That is not going to happen because the current Government is going to be re-elected at the next election and we will progress with Housing for All and hit our targets which we have set. The Taoiseach, at our Ard-Fheis, put forward the figure of 250,000 homes over the next five to six years.The figures for commencements that are in place for 2024 show that we will hit that target. We will hit over 50,000 homes being started in 2024 and those houses will be delivered over the next five or six years. We will deliver the 250,000 homes that were promised by the Taoiseach. However, these are words from the top builders in the country who are building homes: undue progress; uncertainty; and slowed dramatically. That is the reality if we change from the policy in Housing for All that has been brought in by the Government. It is working. We need to keep that policy in place and we will deliver the policy.