First, I join the Ceann Comhairle in welcoming the Polish community in the Gallery in celebrating their constitution day. I pay tribute to Deputy Malcolm Byrne, in particular, who is the convenor of the Irish Polish parliamentary group. I welcome the ambassador to-be Mr. Artur Michalski to the House. I fully reject the Deputy’s analysis of the situation. The first point I would make is that yet again she is ignoring that fact that we are facing a major dislocation of oil supply and disruption because of a war in the Middle East. What is her problem in acknowledging the war in the Middle East?
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Since the war broke out, the Deputy keeps pretending it has not happened.
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It is almost as if she is living in a parallel universe. We have a huge issue-----
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-----as have the world and Europe because of that war which is following on earlier shocks, in terms of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis that happened then. We need a Government-----
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-----and we need a political response that understands the seismic potential damage of this crisis. The Deputy is ignoring it and that is irresponsible and negligent. Anybody I meet, at European level or anywhere, is very concerned about not only the short-term impact but the medium- and long-term impacts to the world of this energy shock crisis. That is not overstating it - that is what people are saying. We have allocated around €750 million on top of a budget last year that was substantial in terms of public expenditure, and I will deal with that in a second. We just announced one of the highest packages, so we are not ignoring anybody and we are not holding back. We have allocated one of the largest packages across the European Union to alleviate pressures that undoubtedly are on families. We decided strategically to look at the food production sector, so we can continue food production at some affordable prices and the haulage industry in terms of our export economy and also getting goods on shelves in an affordable way. Those packages are substantial by any yardstick. Then the general reduction in excise duty of 32 cent on diesel and 27 cent on petrol is helping to alleviate pressures. However, the pressures are undoubtedly there, of that there is no doubt. What the Deputy wants to do is spend about €3 billion to €4 billion now.
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What happens in October if this crisis does not abate? What happens in January? What happens our housing investments or our investments across in education, health and childcare? The USC brings in €5 billion to €6 billion. The Deputy wants something for everyone in the audience. She wants universal energy credits. She wants to give credits to the wealthiest in society. She does not believe in targeting anymore. Her measures, if they were brought in, would bring about 2% or 2.5% to inflation. We know who suffers most when inflation goes up - it is lowest income groups. That is not politically fanciful for the Deputy. She has a by-election coming and she wants to win as many votes as she can, so she wants to say, "Let us spend €4 billion and give it out to everybody." That is what she is doing. Let us be under no illusion that that is what is afoot here.
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We have to think even short term to October. We should be looking at more permanent measures that help to alleviate the cost of living. Tá géarghá é sin a dhéanamh. Tá an-chuid déanta againn agus tá níos mó le déanamh againn dan dabht. It is not next year's budget but next October's budget, which is a number of months away.
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No, not necessarily, and the Deputy knows that is not the truth either. We know that we have to help people over next winter, which will be a crucial period, but we are going to do it in a measured, sensible way, not Sinn Féin's way, which is the Liz Truss way,-----
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-----which nearly blew the British economy apart. That is where Sinn Féin is going.
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Hold on a second. The budget that we announced last year-----
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We have introduced permanent measures that reduce the cost of living. In terms of healthcare, we eliminated all hospital charges. In terms of education, there are free primary schoolbooks.
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In terms of primary schools, there are free hot school meals. These are measures that matter. We have expanded the back to school allowance and so on.
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In terms of the fuel allowance, we expanded that.
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The Deputies have to keep interrupting because they do not like the truth, but 450,000 working families benefit from the fuel allowance. We brought in the working family payment within that. We have done very effective, targeted measures, including free contraception, HRT, and going right through the health services.
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These all reduce the cost of living for working families. Sinn Féin chooses to ignore that.
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I welcome at long last that Sinn Féin has acknowledged that there is a war in the Middle East. That is progress from its perspective-----
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-----but I do not accept Sinn Féin's approach to how to resolve the issues for people.
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I fundamentally disagree with the Deputy's proposition. The State is investing the majority of funding in housing right now and has been for the last three to four years.
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Deputy Bacik's presentation, saying that we are favouring the private market, does not add up. There are record levels of State investment, nearly up to €10 billion this year.
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They are not tax breaks at all. Come on, the Deputy knows it. That is untrue. Let us have an honest debate about it. The only thing Labour has produced in its policy responses is a State housing development agency. That is all. Not one paragraph in it is fleshed out at all, as far as I can see.
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I will make this point to the Deputy. Thirty-six thousand houses were built last year. Supply is the key here. Labour keeps opposing measures that will add supply. The Deputy talks about an eviction ban. She said it would slow down homelessness. It would slow down supply, and did slow down supply. Be in no doubt that supply is the key. We need to get to 50,000 houses a year.
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That needs to be balanced with public sector investment and private sector investment. "Private sector contribution" should not be seen as a dirty term, as some on the left see it.
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It is a very important contributor to getting to 50,000 or 60,000 houses per annum. The momentum is very strong now. Unfortunately, this crisis in the Middle East could be problematic in time.
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We need that war to end. We have built about 170,000 houses since 2020 and 50,000 apartments have been built. There were 8,000 permissions in quarter 4 of 2025, up 20%, and 20,000 houses were granted permission in 2025, which is the highest number since 2009. Commencement notices were up 184% in quarter 1 of 2026. Real dwelling investment was up by close to 20% in the first three quarters of 2025. Construction employment was at 191,000 at the end of 2025. That is up 30% since 2019 and 12% year on year. The Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, loan book has grown by 25% to €3.2 billion. We have announced the €1 billion housing infrastructure investment fund, which is also doing very well. I can go through all of the various investments that the State is putting into this. Nearly 59,000 social houses have been added since July 2020. It is significant that 60% of all mortgages drawn down now are first-time buyers. That matters. I would not dismiss it like the Deputy tried to in her opening remarks.
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I am not missing anything here. That is significant because it means the measures we have introduced are helping first-time buyers, albeit at prices that are still too high, but the only way we will deal with that price issue is by having more supply. We need a more collective approach to housing supply and not to oppose every single thing that the Government brings in. In terms of the reforms, the Deputy knows well that some smaller landlords did not like the reforms because they gave additional protections to tenants, not the other way round. That is the impact. We did protect tenants-----
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Housing supply is the key-----
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-----and we need to build more houses. Labour's policies would actually reduce housing supply. There is no question.
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As to the other point on homelessness, the profile of homelessness has shifted dramatically. There is no question. That is the reality.
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If you look at the figures-----
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I am not blaming anybody. Deputy Ó Broin is wrong.
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The biggest factor, if you look at the figures----
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Deputy Ó Broin, you are not leader of Sinn Féin yet. By the looks of things, you will be a long time waiting.
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What I want to say is this. If I could speak to Deputy Bacik-----
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Sorry.
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The fundamental change in homelessness, and it is still an issue, without question, is the fact that less than 50% are now Irish citizens. Migration has impacted hugely on homelessness.
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The facts speak for themselves. If we cannot have an honest debate-----
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Look, do not be getting into high dudgeon now. That is the truth, unfortunately, whether Deputy Bacik likes it or not.
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The Deputy can try and make all the commentary she likes about that, and I say that-----
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Look at the Dublin figures alone.
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It is out there-----
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First of all, the short-term letting and tourism Bill will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register of all short-term lets in Ireland. That will be accompanied by a planning statement from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, governing that entire framework. That will broadly restrict the approval of new planning permissions for short-term lets in cities and large towns. All of this is aligned with the European directive and the European approach to this. Bear in mind that even in Deputy Cairns's area there has been a lot of pushback, not from any particular Deputies, but generally from people who have been operating Airbnbs in west Cork, Kerry, along the western seaboard and in the south-eastern areas from a tourism point of view. There has been a reaction against it - not from any one TD, but from people on the ground. Yesterday, I was answering this question from a different perspective from the Deputy's colleague Deputy Collins, who is completely against any ending of the short-term lets and so on. We have decided on the figure of 20,000. We think it is a reasonable balance. If we can get the short-term lets back to housing in the cities and the large towns, that will be a good day's work. It is not simple either, in terms of planning laws and the frameworks around that, to make sure that we get it right. The Government will introduce this. We will be doing it and are nearly there, to be quite frank, in terms of completing the process. It is a measure in addition to all the other measures. The Deputy is derisive about what she calls "sheds". They are not sheds. Talk to people. She says she has spoken to people in her constituency. A lot of people in west Cork approve of the planning exemption proposal around units at the back of their houses and so on. They actually approve of it. Some people will be paying up to €80,000 for those, if they are modular units, for example. They may use them for their family members but family members will not be there forever. We have a housing supply crisis and it makes sense to free up the planning permitting situation for units of that kind. We will keep it under review. I am in favour of anything that increases supply. I am not really interested in rhetoric. I am not interested in opposing everything that everybody proposes. The vast majority of what the Government has proposed over the last number of years on housing has been opposed by the Social Democrats and others. The Social Democrats oppose any private sector involvement. We have a lot of workers working in Ireland. There are a lot of people out there who would avail of these kinds of units and take pressure off the more conventional rental market. It is about supply and we make no apology for it. Next week, we will look at rural planning guidelines for housing as well, which the Deputy will probably oppose, but we have to produce more supply.
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Absolutely, and that is what we are doing. We are legislating in terms of Airbnbs in any area above 20,000 people. That is a very significant change, and rightly so because the priority is housing. Our priority is housing and will remain housing. There is an issue of balance here in terms of the proposal and this would be a major step forward when we bring in this legislation-----
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-----in terms of anywhere over 20,000 for cities and large towns. That will be significant progress.
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We will have specific policies for the Gaeltacht areas. Tá siad tábhachtach. Tá na hAirí, na Teachtaí Calleary agus Browne, i dteagmháil maidir leis na Gaeltachtaí. Admhaím go bhfuil cás faoi leith ann ó thaobh lucht na Gaeltachta a labhraíonn an teanga go rialta agus gur cóir go mbeadh seans acu tithe a cheannach nó a thógáil ina n-áit dúchais féin.
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The entire defective concrete blocks schemes have moved on apace over the past number of years and that needs to be acknowledged as well.
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The sum of €293 million has been provided this year alone for the remediation of homes affected by defects including pyrite, apartment defects and defective concrete blocks. The pace has accelerated, in particular over the past two years. There was €155 million spent in 2025, compared with just under €60 million in 2024. As the scheme ramps up, more sufficient additional funding will be provided as required. As the Deputy knows, the overall cost is estimated at about €2.2 billion. The scheme is designed, as per the Government's commitment, and delivered in a manner that meets the real needs of homeowners in an efficient and effective manner. Currently more than 3,000 homeowners are at various stages of the scheme. The data is clear, too, that many are availing of it and that the grant rates, which were set and increased in 2024 and are based on expert advice, are at a level to ensure homeowners will get the money they need to put their homes right. That the grant scheme follows the most up-to-date science is particularly important and changes were made to the scheme late in 2024 to take account of the most recent research. A forthcoming Bill will make amendments to the grant scheme to allow changes to be implemented by the administrators of the grant scheme. That will allow grant rates and payments under the scheme to increase by up to 10%. In relation to the Deputy's specific question, I will engage with the Minister regarding what is the latest position on that. I think what the Deputy is suggesting is that a house would be built adjacent while the existing house is being repaired.
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In special areas or right across the board?
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It is important. The scale and pace of this is growing enormously. I will talk to the Minister and ask him to engage with the Deputy to get clarity on that specific point, particularly for families that are under pressure either with disabilities or a wider range of issues.
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I have spoken to people in Donegal and to public representatives who have said there is real momentum in this scheme-----
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-----and do not give the exact same-----
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It is not your question, Deputy Mac Lochlainn. This scheme-----
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There are new new asks all of the time in relation to the scheme. We need to get on with it and get it delivered.
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We do.
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The legislation has changed, expert advice has changed and the science has changed. The Government's commitment is absolutely 100% in terms of delivering this scheme, and 3,000 people are not trapped in the scheme.
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They are engaged in and involved with the scheme at different stages.
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