I flagged this issue on 8 July, as did others, including Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. I raised this at the time that we were bringing forward measures quickly to deal with a particular issue. I flagged that I would be bringing forward a more comprehensive tenancy Bill in the autumn and we are going to do that. Let us not lose sight of the fact that the change the Government made by linking rent to inflation was significant. This inflationary effect has been in the very short term but the change the Government made was …

I thank the Deputy. As he has stated, the programme for Government indeed sets out a number of commitments in respect of this important policy area of building defects. It is a programme for Government that I, with colleagues in Fine Gael and the Green Party, negotiated, within which we afforded the proper objective to tackle this issue. It provides for an examination of defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing report, Safe as Houses. In this context, I e…

As the Deputy stated, it took time to get the group up and running and the terms of reference agreed. It was important that we got agreement from all involved as to the terms of reference, to move it forward and to put it on an independent footing. It is fair to say that it took some time to get the terms of reference agreed. Again, I did not want to pressure people into having terms of reference imposed upon them, because it is the homeowners and apartment owners who we want to help in this regard. We are very ser…

I understand that point being made by the Deputy. The Construction Defects Alliance did make a pre-budget submission which I received. It has also gone to the Department of Finance for consideration. Regardless of any measures in this future budget, which has not been decided, we want to help these homeowners. We want to put a process in place that will be sustainable into the future. Unfortunately, there are potentially thousands of homes affected by this issue. There is a cost involved and a duty to the sector an…

This is the question in the name of Deputy Ó Broin. Investment in social and affordable housing is a major component of the State's capital expenditure. Under Housing for All, there is to be a sum of over €4 billion per year, which dwarfs the €2.9 billion the Deputy's party proposed as part of its submission on Housing for All. As Minister, it is my duty to ensure that capital investment projects are prepared and delivered to achieve maximum value for money. The Deputy might agree with that. The public spending cod…

That was a good sound bite but let us get to reality. Under the Affordable Housing Act, I have-----

Deputy Gould might find the housing crisis funny-----

He has been at this all evening. He is kind of giddy this evening. He should just relax there for a minute and we will get back to the facts.

The fact of the matter here is that the proposed development at Oscar Traynor Road has the potential to deliver well over 800 new homes, as Deputy Mitchell knows, in addition to extensive community and recreational facilities. The Deputy may be aware that Dublin City Council has indicated that any new plan would have to revert to the drawing board in that there would have to be a lengthy design, planning and procurement process. The Deputy's colleagues in the council were told that this could delay the project by m…

This Government has a real plan to deliver affordable and social homes. That might look good on the Deputy's social media pages for her little sound bite.

I did not interrupt the Deputy once. Does she want to hear what is really happening? In the affordable housing fund that we launched, we can increase the subvention up to €100,000, which is exactly what Dublin City Council, DCC, was seeking and doing it for. The plan that Sinn Féin has for Oscar Traynor Road, in the Deputy's constituency, would drive this project back five, six or seven years and I am not going to-----

Deputy Mitchell might not be aware or she just might not want to hear the facts.

There is hardly any point in trying to answer a question if the Deputy does not want to hear the answer. I met the former Lord Mayor Hazel Chu, the Lord Mayor Alison Gilliland and senior executives in DCC because we want to move this forward. I am serious about delivering homes for real people, not sound bites or stunts in the Dáil.

The reality is that we made the changes that DCC has sought. The question is whether Sinn Féin councillors will vote for a revised plan that will deliver homes for people. Its track record up until now is that it has not, and we are going to do it.

The Deputy does not want to hear the answer.

They are the facts, I am afraid. We will deliver homes at Oscar Traynor Road for real people in the area.

It might not suit the Deputy, though.

I thank the Deputy for the question, which he has raised with me directly in the past, as have other Members. It is important we ensure that the existing housing stock is utilised to the full extent, including by providing a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy throughout Ireland. That is why there are very strong actions in the Housing for All plan that the Government has adopted in that area, some of which I will now outline. We are pursuing a wide range of measures to…

The Deputy is correct and that is why this is such a focus of what we want to do in the housing plan. Utilising our existing stock makes sense in the context of climate action and carbon. We do not have to build all the new stock we need; rather, we must utilise what we have. Our town centre first approach is also crucial. I have been travelling throughout Ireland and I have seen the issue in my constituency, both urban and rural. The levels of vacancy in some places is shocking. People who want to get on the housi…

I thank Deputy O'Connor and those Deputies who made constructive comments about what we have to do. We have outlined very clearly in Housing for All the measures we are going to take on vacancy. They are serious measures and they must be taken. I point out to Deputy Gould that I am acutely aware of that. I have not woken up just yesterday. I know it, and I know we have a responsibility to get them back into use. More important, for the Members who are genuinely interested in seeing solutions to it, there are things…