Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome both Ministers.

I am sure the Ministers are aware of the Central Bank's commentary on housing which confirms the growing gap between the Government's targets and what is needed to fix the housing crisis. The report estimates that between 52,000 and 67,000 new homes are needed to meet existing and emerging need over the next decade or more. This is broadly in line with the Housing Commission's recommendations for new homes over the next ten years to deal with pent-up demand as quickly as possible. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, talked about capital ceilings of €14.5 billion in next year's budget while the Minister for Finance has talked about AIB and using the proceeds from AIB. Is the €14.5 billion inclusive of the AIB sale receipts or is the Minister intending to go further, on top of that, in terms of additional one-off capital investments during 2025? How do the Ministers expect to respond to the Housing Commission, the Central Bank and, indeed, to every other report that is coming out on almost a daily basis that talks about how the Government's housing strategy is failing? We need far more done, given the level of capital investment that the Government is planning for next year.