All of them.

The programme for Government talks about energy poverty and fuel poverty. Is the Taoiseach aware that people who are reliant on district heating systems are paying exorbitant prices, well above the very high prices everyone else is currently paying? While district heating systems are sustainable, they are placing a considerable financial burden on residents. I will give just one example of the exorbitant costs: in one area in my constituency, the residents estimate the cost of taking a shower to be €12.

Households have cut down sharply on the use of hot water and are washing in a basin instead of taking showers. People are seeing considerable increases in their charges and report they have tripled in the course of just one month. District heating systems are being charged commercial rates for gas rather than the residential rates other households pay, because the Government has not regulated this area. Will the Government, as a matter of urgency, introduce regulations to protect households that rely on district he…

Before I get into the substance of what I want to say, I will make two points about people objecting to housing. Of course, in a democratic system people have a right to put in planning submissions if they wish. For absolute clarity, the vast bulk of political representatives who submit objections to housing in my constituency are in Fianna Fáil. It is an absolute objective fact that anyone can check. The second point is that the councillors on South Dublin County Council who voted to dezone land earmarked for 100 …

Yesterday, I asked the Taoiseach about the Government making incorrect claims about housing delivery. He was not able to give a full answer, so I wish to ask him about it again. The Government claims 1,765 new-build social homes were delivered in the first half of this year. Analysis by Laoise Neylon of the Dublin InQuirer shows that the majority of social homes in Dublin city that were categorised as delivered in the first half of this year were not completed. Out of 200 homes claimed to be delivered, 138 were not…

The Government is telling us that homes are finished when they are not.

I move amendment No. 2: “In page 7, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “Report on the establishment of a Land Price Register 8. The Minister shall, not later than 3 months after the passing of this Act, commission and publish a report on the establishment of a Land Price Register to be operated by Tailte Éireann which would— (a) expand the register that records residential property sales prices, (b) establish a new land and other non-residential property transaction database, (c) set out in detail al…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is great that the Government supports and is committed to data and to the evidence-based policymaking that we can engage in thanks to data, but given that this amendment would not create a land price register and would only create a situation in which there would be a report on the matter, why not commit to that now? The Minister of State made the point that this provision did not need to be in the legislation because the Minister could ask for such a report anyway…

I thank the Minister of State for his comments, but "consideration" is no good, so I will be pressing the amendment.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “Timeframe for valuation of commercial property 9. Tailte Éireann shall, within 4 months of the substantial completion of a commercial unit, assess the Net Annual Value of the property and set a valuation in line with rental values at the specified valuation so that commercial rates may be applied.”. This amendment relates to the Valuation Office and the length of time it takes to value commercial units. Often, housing developments…

I thank the Minister of State for that reply. I can understand why section 28(5) has not been commenced given the serious backlog. This is not a backlog; this is ten years late and it has not been done. I accept this is only part of the solution and not the entire solution, but it would help move things along. Communities are left with a sense of incompletion and with vacancy, which can lead to dereliction. This is often in the heart of the residential area, maybe where there are commercial units or shops opened, a…

We want to tackle vacancy and dereliction. There is also the environmental waste of building new buildings. They contain all that embodied carbon and then for them to sit empty and not be put to use is hugely wasteful from an environmental point of view. Is addressing this something the Government is committed to? Are the Valuations Office and Tailte Éireann, when it is set up, going to be told to prioritise vacancy in these newer developments which has been going on for over a decade, partially because valuations …

To follow up on that, I want to ask the Taoiseach about claims the Government is making on housing delivery. Is he aware that some of the information that he and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage provide on housing delivery is simply not correct? For example, the Taoiseach claimed in the Dáil last week that the number of housing commencements is up when in fact it is down by 14% over the last year. On the issue of social housing delivery, the Government claims 1,765 new-build social homes were…

Except that they are not all built or finished.

The ones-----

I thank Deputy John Brady for bringing this motion before the House. I recognise his very long track record in this area, highlighting the issues that affect the fire services. On behalf of the Social Democrats, I strongly support the motion and support the retained firefighters who are campaigning for a basic level of decency in the way they are treated. It is a pity the Government has tabled an amendment to the motion. It would have been better for us to unite as a Dáil in support of it. I welcome the firefighter…

The Taoiseach told the Dáil earlier that housing commencements are up. Housing commencements are in fact down 14%. He also told the Dáil that the housing plan is working; however, all of the evidence shows that it is not. House prices and rents have never been so high. Homelessness has reached record levels. The number of people emigrating from the country because housing is unaffordable is increasing. There are hundreds of thousands of people stuck living in their parents’ homes in their 20s and 30s because housin…

They are down 14%.

The Minister does not think there is a housing emergency.

Does the Minister deny there is a housing emergency?