Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said earlier, housing is the most important issue facing this country and our people. We have to focus on policies that will increase the number of houses we can build every year. This will also increase the number of houses that are available to the rental market. What the Deputy has put forward would, I suggest, depress the number of houses available to the rental market and lead to a decrease in the supply of houses more generally. For example, the Deputy is against the waiver of development levies. The commencement data, which is out today, indicates that there were about 4,900 housing starts in March, which is an increase of 51% on March of last year. If the Deputy's policies were implemented, we would not achieve that figure next year or the year after that. We would not see increases in housing starts. The Deputy's proposals for the proportion of social housing in developments would also depress supply, whether he likes it or not.

Perhaps Deputy Boyd Barrett believes in a full State intervention approach. In my view, the capacity does not exist. What I mean is that the Deputy does not believe in any private sector housing really. It is fair enough if that is his position. He would probably have direct labour and a direct State and national building agency, with the State building every house in the country. It would take some time to get that up and running and, meanwhile, we would have people fleeing the market. I genuinely believe that what the Deputy is proposing would be catastrophic for the housing market and for young people trying to buy houses.

In total, 12,000 social homes were delivered in 2023. That is the highest figure since 1975. Of those, 8,100 were built and the rest were acquired for tenants in situ and so on There are about 22,500 more social homes, either on site or at design and tender stage. Mortgage draw-downs by first-time buyers reached a new peak, at about 26,000, in 2023. That is the highest annual level since 2007. We are improving affordability for younger people to be in the position to buy houses. Last year, 33,000 houses were completed. We hope to exceed the target we set for this year and already the signs are that we will do so.

On cost-rental and affordable purchase housing, some 6,000 affordable homes had been delivered in quarter 4 of 2023, which is double what had been produced prior to that.

On dereliction, I do not know whether the Deputy supports the grant-based scheme we have introduced. It provides €70,000 and other supports for a young couple or individual to bring a derelict house back into use.

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