Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Dec 2023

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

- Fine Gael have been in Government for 12 years;

- Fianna Fáil have been propping them up for seven years;

- during that time the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse;

- rents are at an all-time high and rising; and

- the Government have missed the social and affordable housing targets three years in a row;

notes with extreme concern that:

- standardised average new rents in Dublin have increased by €4,716 and State-wide by €3,816 since this Government was formed;

- the latest Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) Q2 2023 Rent Index Report showed new rents increasing by 11.6 per cent, the highest annual increase since RTB records started in 2007, while rents for existing tenants rose by five per cent State-wide;

- in Dublin the increase is even more dramatic in financial terms, while rents are up 10 per cent on Q2 last year that amounts to an annual increase of €2,916; and

- twenty counties had rental inflation of over 10 per cent with many in the high teens; and

calls on the Government to:

- immediately introduce an emergency three-year ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies; and

- put a full month's rent back in every private renter's pocket and increase supply of affordable properties to rent and buy.

I wish to share time with party colleagues.

It has never been harder in modern times to be a private renter. Rents are at record highs and are continuing to rise ever upward. The threat of eviction and eviction notices is a daily reality and the threat of homelessness for an ever-wider range of people living in the private rental sector is a real concern. We only have to look at the data that is produced by Government agencies to confirm all of that. The most recent Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, rent report showed us that, since its series began in 2007, new rents have increased by the highest level on record, at almost 12% across the State and 10% in Dublin. That means that for an average new renter, it is over €1,500 a month and €2,000 a month in Dublin. The RTB report also recorded and published for the first time in many years existing rents for renters who have not moved property in the last year, and even there the news is very bad, with a 5% increase in existing rents State-wide and a 5.5% increase in Dublin.

What is interesting about both of those figures is that while they do not easily correlate to levels of compliance, it is clear there is an element of non-compliance both with new rents and existing rents. In fact, at the launch of its report last week, the Residential Tenancies Board confirmed that all of this data will allow it to take a much firmer role with enforcement. The data does not tell us who is and who is not abiding by the rules but, clearly, non-compliance is significant.

It is likewise with eviction notices. There have been 15,000 notices of termination in the first three quarters of this year and given that trend, it will be 20,000 eviction notices for the year. Again, while we cannot compare that with previous years because of the way the data is published, it is a very significant number. If someone is a young renter who aspires to buy, it is now virtually impossible to save for a deposit. However, as the most recent census report also showed us, there has been an 87% increase in older people living in the private rental sector, which, according to Threshold and Alone, is a sector that is inadequate to meet their medium- to long-term housing needs.

No matter what way we look at it, the longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government, the worse the crisis in the private rental sector is going to get. What is the Government’s response? No matter what it is that it does, it is too slow, too late, too little and far too ineffective.

Let us look at the proposals. For a long time, Sinn Féin called for a full month's rent to go back into every renter's pocket through a refundable tax credit and it was opposed year after year by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. When they eventually decided to do it, the rent level of the tax credit was far too low and far too few renters have availed of it - just over 50% last year and only 64,000 of 400,000 renters so far this year. Even in the budget just gone, there was a meagre increase to €750 a month and, of course, because rents are not capped, that means it will all be swallowed up in rental inflation. So it is also with the tenant in situ scheme, which was introduced far too late. I will accept that despite the fact the Minister dragged his heels for over a year, social tenant in situ is working, as we said it would. However, cost-rental tenant in situ is not working and more work needs to be done on that.

Probably the most scandalous part of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's failure is his lack of delivery of affordable housing. The numbers speak for themselves for affordable purchase and affordable cost rental through approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the Land Development Agency, LDA. One of the most bizarre things is that the Minister cannot even tell us how many properties there are in the private rental sector because the CSO gives us one figure and the RTB gives us another, and there are 80,000 homes of a difference between the two. Therefore, not only is the Minister making things worse, but he cannot even tell us how large that sector is and whether it is shrinking or stagnating.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Government's plan simply is not working. The best evidence of that is homeless figures, which show a month-on-month increase since the Minister ended the most recent ban on no-fault evictions, as well as the previous Covid ban. The alternative that we have set out over and over again, including in this motion, is that we need a ban on rent increases for three years, a real refundable tax credit and at least 8,000 genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy each year. It is clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government will never deliver on housing or for renters, which is why we need a change of Government, a change of Minister and a change of housing plan. On that basis, I commend the motion to the House.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the chance to speak on the motion. Standardised average new rents in Dublin have increased by €4,716 per annum and State-wide by €3,816 since the Government was formed. Across north County Dublin, these increases have been replicated, with monthly rents increasing from €1,762 per month to €2,158 per month since the Government was elected. According to the daft.ie rent report, that is an annual increase of €4,752 per year. These figures are even worse when calculated using the RTB rent index. Since Fine Gael came into power in 2011, average rents in north County Dublin have gone up from €980 per month to €2,158, again according to the daft.ie rent report. That is a 120% increase in the average monthly rent in north County Dublin in 12 years. Are wages going up to the same extent? You can bet that they are not.

However, not only has the cost of renting exploded under this Government but the available housing stock to rent has collapsed. Today, there are 355 properties on daft.ie for long-term rent in north County Dublin, that is, 355 properties to rent in a local authority area of 330,506 people. This situation is atrocious and despite what the Government says, it is only getting worse.

I see it day in, day out in my offices in Swords and Balbriggan and when I meet people right across north County Dublin. The only solution is to immediately introduce an emergency three-year ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies, put a full month’s rent back in every private renter’s pocket and increase the supply of affordable properties to rent and buy. There are days when I come home from having spent the day in my office, listening to people who are at the business end of this housing crisis, and it breaks my heart to hear what people have to go through. I had a woman in my constituency office who lives in Rush. She was given a notice to quit. She had been in emergency accommodation for two and a half years but she found somewhere to live. She sobbed her heart out at the thought of having to go back into emergency accommodation with her two children. As she said to me:

I have checked and checked. I have sent hundreds of emails. I have made so many phone calls. We do not even get a look-in.

That is on the Minister's watch.

Last week's report from the RTB, as shocking as it was, was no great surprise. It only confirmed what we already knew, which is that there has been a shocking increase in rent across Cork and across the country on this Government's watch. We know this from the ever-increasing number of people calling to our constituency offices who simply cannot put a roof over their heads any longer. Couples who have been renting and living together are moving back in with their parents.

Young people are deciding to emigrate because they see no realistic chance of being able to afford a decent standard of living while being forced to pay sky-high rent. Older people approaching retirement are now more frequently worried about how they will continue to pay extortionate rents on a State pension. Some of the hardest cases we deal with in our offices are those of people who either do not qualify for social housing or who do not have a lot of credited time. It is very difficult to say anything to them because the options for them are so scarce. You can tell them to go looking for rental properties but they are just not there. Families, workers and young people deserve and need affordable housing and affordable rents.

In Cork, the average rent for a new tenancy is a staggering €1,363 per month, which shows an increase of 9% on last year. There is also a 3.7% increase in the average for existing tenancies. In many instances, rents are far above that. They can be €1,500 or €1,600 per month for very ordinary houses. This is scandalous. Rents are through the roof and renters are being fleeced. Renters need immediate support from the Government. Sinn Féin's proposals to cut rents and stop increases would have prevented these increases. We need the Government to listen to the proposals in this motion and to immediately introduce an emergency three-year ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies. The Government must also put a full month's rent back in every private renter's pocket and increase the supply of affordable properties to rent or buy. The targets for affordable housing are absolutely pathetic. For Cork city, the target is about 100 a year. That is nowhere near the amount needed.

These are immediate practical steps the Government can take to finally give renters the break they need and deserve. However, only a change of government and a change of housing policy will allow us to start cleaning up the mess of decades of bad Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil housing policy. The longer Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are in government, the worse things seem to get. That is evident in these record increases and in the record level of homelessness in this State. The Government needs to support this motion and to finally support struggling renters.

The longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government, the worse things get in housing. Nowhere is this more evident than in the most recent report from the RTB. Deputy Ó Laoghaire is correct to say that, while it was shocking, nobody was surprised because this is what we see in our constituency offices day in and day out. It is also why we need to immediately introduce an emergency three-year ban on rent increases and why we need to put a full month's rent back into the pockets of private renters while, at the same time, increasing the supply of affordable properties to both buy and rent. I say that as the TD for Sinn Féin in Longford-Westmeath. Longford has seen a year-on-year increase of 27.4%, the highest in the State by a country mile. Westmeath's year-on-year increase was 10.3%. These are mind-boggling figures for people to keep up with. As rents continue to rise, people move into the counties that I represent. They are very welcome but the financial pressure they are being put under is absolutely unending.

We constantly hear a narrative put out by Government that we are turning a corner. The Minister should speak face-to-face to the generation that is locked out of home ownership. He should speak to the almost 60% of 18 to 29-year-olds who are considering emigrating to a country with a lower cost of living and to the two out of three people in Ireland between 25 and 29 who are living with their parents. Another report says that Ireland has one of the biggest gaps between younger and older people in western Europe with regard to homeownership. The average cost of renting in the Shannonside region has increased by 15% since last year. This Government's policies are driving out a whole generation of nurses, teachers, young people, gardaí and hospitality and retail workers. The Government has created this crisis and it is increasingly clear that its members are not the people who are going to solve it. As I stand here today, there are 43 properties to rent in the two counties that make up my constituency. That is all. One three-bedroom property will set you back €2,800 a month. The dogs in the street see what is happening. The Minister claims he can see it too but, instead of listening to concerns from various different sources, he is blindly following policies that have been shown not only to be ineffective, but to be contributing to the problem.

Labhróidh mé in áit an Teachta Mitchell. Cathain atá an tAire chun céimeanna dáiríre a thógáil chun faoiseamh a thabhairt dóibh siúd atá ag íoc cíosanna gan áireamh sa chathair seo agus in áiteanna eile timpeall na tíre? Tá ardú leanúnach tar éis teacht ar chíosanna ó chuaigh an tAire, a pháirtí agus an páirtí ina bhfuil sé i gcomhrialtas leis i mbun rialtais. Níl aon chéim cheart glactha acu chun déileáil le ceist na n-arduithe cíosa i ndiaidh a chéile. Tá a fhios againn ar fad faoi cheist an stoic thithíochta. Tá an fhadhb seo ceangailte le stoc tithíochta ach níl aon bhac ceart curtha in áit ó thaobh na gcíosanna agus na faidhbe leanúnaí atá ag teaghlaigh teach cónaithe a fháil ar cíos. Ní hamháin nach bhfuil siad ann ach, chomh maith leis sin, tá an costas an-ard agus ní féidir le daoine an t-airgead atá acu a shíneadh níos faide. Ní airgead rubair é. Bhí mé díreach ag caint faoi airgead góchumtha, counterfeiting, agus a leithéid. Níl an t-airgead sin ag daoine. Ní féidir leo cíos a íoc muna bhfuil airgead sa phóca acu. Tá an Stát agus an Rialtas tar éis ligean do chúrsaí teacht go dtí an staid nach féidir le gnáthdaoine atá ag obair an cíos atá á éileamh ag tiarnaí talún a íoc.

In my own constituency, rents are very high and are increasing continuously. Rents are in no proportion to the value of properties or the income people are earning. There are now situations in which two people working cannot afford a family home in this city. They cannot stretch their wages, the money they are earning, further to pay the continuous increases so more and more couples and families are ending up in homelessness because the Minister has not taken the measures required to address rising rents in this city and throughout the country, because it is not just in Dublin. However, the obscene rents being charged in this city have to be addressed and increases must be reversed.

There are but the next speaker should be here in time. It has been said that there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes, but perhaps rising Irish rents should be included in that old maxim because here we are again. Whether it is the latest Daft report, CSO statistics, the census or, as in this case, RTB data, we are talking about rents rising again and again. At exactly this time last year, Eurostat detailed how, over the previous 12 years, average rents here had increased by a whopping 82%. One year on, the RTB informs us that average rents increased by 11.6% year on year. This is the highest annual increase since the RTB began compiling this data series in 2007. Galway city, where I live, has the unfortunate distinction of having the second-highest rents at €1,577 a month. Although it comes in second place, it appears to be closing the gap on first place as it had the highest average increase for new tenancies, at 12.7%.

This is the devastating reality of the impact of the Minister's policies on workers and families. I see the pain, the anguish and the suffering this causes and that is why we need to listen to what is in this motion tonight. That is why we need to see a three-year ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies and why we need to put one month's rent back in renters' pockets. Crucially, we need to look at affordable housing for Galway city because it has been left behind as regards affordable housing.

Young people have had not only their whole student experience, but their ability to access third level education, made far more difficult by this housing crisis. They are trying to live in cramped and overcrowded accommodation. I have seen several single beds in what looks like a hallway. People are also now couch surfing or commuting for hours upon end. How are they supposed to be able to do their third level education? A great many are dropping out because of the Minister's policies.

Caithfidh an tuairisc a tháinig amach ón mBord um Thionóntachtaí Cónaithe an tseachtain seo caite a bheith mar phointe ag a n-amharcann an Rialtas ar cad é atá ag tarlú ó thaobh iad sin atá ag díol cíosa sa Stát seo. Chímid ó na figiúirí a tháinig amach go bhfuil cíosanna ag dul suas 12% in aghaidh na bliana. Is é sin an ráta is airde a chonaic muid ó thosaigh an bord seo ag déanamh tuairisce ar arduithe cíosa 15 bliain ó shin.

Walking to the Chamber, I was thinking that, surely to God, the penny must drop somewhere in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and some Minister somewhere or at least some backbencher will say, "For God's sake, something has to change." We have listened to the Minister. We hear the Minister get up and make his speech, and all the guff that comes from him, that the Government is doing this and that, and it is doing all of this. Then we get the RTB figures. They come out and say what is happening and the Minister is laughing away. Twelve per cent increases are the highest ever record increase in new rents in the State. It is a new record set by this Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government. It means, for ordinary renters who are already fleeced, they have to find more money to pay for an existing tenancy. It is not just those new renters; it is those in existing rents. Here in this city, where there is supposed to be a cap of 2%, rents have increased by 5% for existing tenants. In my own county, in Donegal, rents have increased by more than 12%. They have increased by 14%.

What does this boil down to? Since this Government took office, across the State you now have to find an additional €3,800 to pay for a new rent. In Dublin, the price of this Government in office is an extra €4,700 and yet the Government simply does not get it. Why does it not get it? We know that this is not a Government for renters. We know that this Government's priorities are in terms of landlords but this needs to be a point in time where the Government wakes up and recognises that ordinary renters can take no more.

Sinn Féin is calling for the Minister to ban rent increases for the next three years, to ensure that renters have at least one month's rent back into their pockets and to put forward a programme that has been put forward by Deputy Ó Broin for years now calling for real investment in social, affordable and cost-rental housing to increase supply to meet the demand that is out there. Will the Minister listen? I doubt it.

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes:

— that the Government is fully committed to ensuring an increase in the supply of affordable high-quality rental accommodation through continued significant capital investment, including Cost Rental, to accelerate delivery of housing for the private and social rental sectors and stabilising rents;

— that building on the enhanced tenancy protections introduced by this Government, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is close to concluding a comprehensive review of the private rental sector, which takes into account the significant regulatory changes over the past several years;

— the extension of Rent Pressure Zones, which now cover 77 per cent of the country and where rent increases are capped at two per cent per annum;

— the increase in the rent tax credit to €750 in Budget 2024, and the introduction of other legislative requirements to support renters;

— that the Government has approved the general scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill for priority drafting and publication during this Oireachtas session, to legislate for a 'right to purchase' where their landlord intends to sell the dwelling;

— the increase in the thresholds for access to Cost Rental homes, which was increased from €53k net to €66k net in Dublin and €59k outside Dublin in July 2023;

— that interventions such as the Cost Rental Tenant in Situ Scheme (CRTiS) are making a real impact in providing secure, long-term homes and preventing homelessness, and to date in 2023 over 1,300 social housing acquisitions have been completed with a further 1,260 at various stages of the assessment and conveyance process; and

— the CRTiS was introduced on 1st April, 2023 for tenants in private rental homes who are not eligible for social housing supports but who are at risk of homelessness, and the Housing Agency is engaging with more than 130 landlords with a view to the purchase of those homes;

acknowledges that increased supply is key to meeting demand and moderating the pent-up pressures in the private rental sector and welcomes that:

— Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland is successfully supporting a significantly increased supply of new homes, with almost 30,000 new homes built in 2022, an increase of 45 per cent on 2021 and 5,250 homes or 21 per cent higher than the Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland target of 24,600;

— the data on the number of residential construction starts show 26,547 homes have been commenced in the first ten months of 2023; and this is a 16.6 per cent increase on the same period last year (22,760); and

— more than 22,400 homes have been built to end-September 2023, with the Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland targets, or 29,000 and 33,450, expected to be met, if not exceeded, in 2023 and 2024 respectively; and

recognises that considerable progress has been made since the publication of Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland (September 2021) including:

— increased social and affordable housing supply, with 10,263 social homes delivered in 2022, representing an 11.9 per cent increase on 2021 figures when 9,169 social homes were provided; and this represents the highest annual output of social homes in decades and the highest level of delivery of new-build social homes since 1975; and

— from a standing start, 1,757 affordable homes delivered in 2022, the first full year of affordable housing delivery in a generation and that a very ambitious programme of affordable housing is now in place; and this momentum is continuing as the pipeline of affordable housing develops further by local authorities, by Approved Housing Bodies and by the Land Development Agency; and

agrees that continued implementation of Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland represents the most appropriate response to deal with the housing challenges which Ireland is now facing.".

It is quite clear that this motion tonight is prompted by the recently published RTB-ESRI rent index for quarter 2 of 2023. I welcome the debate this evening. This report is the most accurate and authoritative rent report of its kind on the private rental sector in Ireland. Compared to other market monitoring reports produced for the Irish rental sector, this RTB-ESRI rent index has the considerable benefit of being based on regulatory data covering all new tenancy registration regardless of how the property was advertised for rent. For the first time ever, existing tenancies are now covered in that index. I hope that in future, the Deputies opposite will cite the RTB-ESRI rent index in their motions and speeches as opposed to other less reliable sources.

The existing tenancies index significantly strengthens the ability to understand the private rental sector overall. The sector has gone through considerable change in recent years. However, for the information of Deputy Doherty, the existing tenancies rent index is not a measure of compliance with rent pressure zone requirements. Deputy Ó Broin was actually at the technical briefing last week held by the ESRI and the RTB and they were at pains to point that out. Deputy Doherty missed his own spokesperson's contribution here this evening. Deputy Ó Broin acknowledged somewhat that they are not an indication of compliance within the RPZs.

The Government opposes the motion tabled this evening. It is threadbare and it offers nothing by way of practical viable solutions. It is approximately a half a page - three lines, to be clear.

I note with interest that the Sinn Féin Party has omitted any mention of an eviction ban from this motion. Usually, that comes with the other items. Maybe Deputy Ó Broin, in his closing remarks, will explain why that is. Is it because the Deputy knows that the measures introduced by Government are taking hold, particularly in that sector, or is it just another change - a Sinn Féin flip-flop - on an issue where it has realised that the impact of a reintroduction of a moratorium on evictions would be detrimental to supply within the private rental sector?

Last year, in the run-up to the budget, the Sinn Féin Party's spokesperson called for measures to keep landlords in the private rental market. I quoted the Deputy previously but it is important people know this. The Deputy said, "All options [must] be on the table for consideration including ... tax reform in the private rental sector." In the same budget, the Sinn Féin alternative budget, a copy of which I have here and which I have read, two and a half pages of which are dedicated to housing, Sinn Féin decided it would bring forward a €400 additional charge for small landlords. We decided to make a change in that space to reduce the cost for small landlords, which Deputy Ó Broin had been courting for the past couple of years. With that, we brought forward the renter's tax credit, and have increased it further.

While this motion is devoid of any solutions or, for that matter, any substance, I would like to address some of the points that the Deputy has raised within it.

Ultimately, we all know, and the Deputy should, that the most effective way to reduce and stabilise rents is to increase supply and accelerate the delivery of housing, including cost-rental housing, affordable housing, and private and social housing. Thankfully, we are beginning to see that taking hold. Only last week, my Department published data which shows commencement notices for 2,624 new homes were received in October of this year. That is an increase of 42% on last year, some of which is down to the measures that we have taken around the waiving of the development levy and the Uisce Éireann connection charge, which Deputy Doherty's party has opposed also. In the first ten months of this year, we have commenced over 26,500 new social, affordable and private homes. The number of homes completed is also increasing significantly, with over 22,400 homes completed between January and September, which is a 9% increase. The Deputy may be disappointed to hear that we will exceed our target again this year, actually quite substantially. By the end of this year, we will have delivered 100,000 new homes since I took over as Minister for housing.

Another report that Sinn Féin does not quote from either, that received quite a lot of public commentary but on which I did not note any remarks from its party spokesperson, was the EUROCONSTRUCT report. EUROCONSTRUCT is an independent construction market forecasting network that is active in 19 European countries. The report shows that construction output in Ireland is forecast to grow at the strongest rate of 19 countries, expanding by 3.2% this year and projected to expand by 4.4% next year. Ireland is bucking the trend cited in the report, which is that total construction activity in Europe is actually falling. One of the reasons cited in this independent report for this growth is that the Government is making record State investment available for housing. There is €5.1 billion committed next year for new homes, which is €1.9 billion more than Deputy Doherty's party commits.

In November alone, I approved funding for more than 1,600 additional cost-rental homes - €442 million in one month alone. A new form of housing that we have not only spoken about but delivered, it is State backed. Tenancies are long term; a minimum of 40 years. Tenants are charged the amount that covers the cost of delivering, managing and maintaining a home. This means that prices are not driven by the market, making it more affordable. Cost rental is aimed at middle-income earners. Deputy Doherty will know too, or he should, that I have altered the income limits - up to €66,000 net in Dublin and €59,000 net across the country. Over 3,300 new cost-rental homes are either occupied or delivered, with hundreds more being approved this month. We are getting real scale on cost rental. It is progress that Sinn Féin wishes to deny but, across the country, it is progress the party has been blocking as well. I visited Cork, with Deputy Ó Laoghaire, only two weeks ago where we have the largest and most significant apartment development of 274 homes commencing because of the Government measures, which has been welcomed, by the way, by Cork Chamber and others there. That is progress.

Just this week, I met one of the residents in the new cost-rental homes in Delgany. These are homes delivered by the LDA - the LDA which the Sinn Féin Party voted against and opposes. These are homes that the agency is delivering on a cost-rental basis. It is heartening to hear what it means to that tenant and the security it gives her. These are measures we are taking that are working. The Land Development Agency, which is delivering homes at scale now, is a land development agency that Sinn Féin opposes and voted against.

We talk about homeownership and those who are stuck in a rental trap.

We have about 500 first-time buyer mortgages being drawn down every week now, the highest amount since 2006. Many of those mortgages were supported by the measures I have brought forward.

Sinn Féin colleagues have spoken this evening about the inability of people to save for a deposit and it is tough for renters. However, one of the measures that helps with getting the deposit together is the help-to-buy grant. You know that €30,000 of the tax that people have earned that is going back in their pockets to help in a grant? Sinn Féin opposes it. The Sinn Féin spokesperson on housing opposes it. Some 42,700 households have claimed that grant and the numbers doing so are increasing month on month, right the way through this year because construction activity is up. Sinn Féin opposes that assistance, the Land Development Agency and the first homes scheme. The first homes scheme has nearly 8,000 registrations with nearly 4,000 approvals. These are real measures that are helping people. Hundreds of homeowners are already in their homes because of the first homes scheme, where the State is stepping in and helping them with equity to buy good quality and new homes. Sinn Féin also opposes that. The opposition to the vacancy grants that nearly 6,000 people have applied for is inexplicable. There have been nearly 3,000 approvals under them. They are grants that are working and helping people to take vacant properties back into use so they can call them their own. Sinn Féin opposes that grant too. In its alternative budget, that I am sure Deputy Doherty signed off on, it allocated no moneys to that grant at all. It is simply reallocating that money to the local authorities. It is clear there in black and white.

When Sinn Féin says this evening that it has come forward with real alternatives, its real alternatives are three lines in the two and a half pages it brought forward in its alternative budget. They are not alternatives or viable solutions. We need to continue to see, and we are seeing with this Government, increasing-----

-----output and supply, more first-time buyers in the market and the tenant in situ scheme. To be fair to Deputy Ó Broin, he has acknowledged tonight for the first time that the tenant in situ scheme is working. Nearly 3,000 properties have been purchased or are in the process of being purchased under that scheme. Sinn Féin has not allowed the capital for that for next year. We already have over 1,000 properties for 2024.

I reject the motion, I welcome the debate and I look forward to a debate, one evening-----