He is misleading the Dáil again.

When the Tánaiste misleads the House and misrepresents our position-----

I will not have the House misled about what I said on radio.

I am very worried about what the Tánaiste is saying.

Our intolerance to dishonesty.

The Tánaiste has nothing to say.

The Tánaiste has nothing to say.

The Tánaiste has no answers.

The Tánaiste has no answers.

The Tánaiste misleading the House is a deliberate tactic. It is dishonest politics at their worst.

Dishonesty from the Tánaiste is intolerable.

I am talking about honesty, a Cheann Comhairle.

I have no confidence in this Government.

Among the many reasons that I have no confidence is that I have no confidence in the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Housing or his failed housing plan. Under Deputy Darragh O'Brien's stewardship, enthusiastically supported by the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, and the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, this Government has turned a housing crisis into a catastrophe. Let us look at some of the facts, while Government Deputies recover themselves from their mirth.

In two-and-a-half years house prices have increased by 20%. Home ownership is now more difficult than at any other time in decades. Rents in the private rental sector have increased by a staggering 23%. That means that renting is more expensive than ever before. The Taoiseach, for the second day in a row, has claimed there were 50,000 new tenancies registered with the Residential Tenancies Board last year. That is not true. In fact, the Taoiseach knows that the Government now requires tenancies to be registered eve…

The Government targets are too low, they are not being met and the consequence is that social housing need is rising. In fact, trying to outdo the Taoiseach for misrepresentation of the facts, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, told us last week that social housing need had miraculously shrunk by 36% in a decade. What he actually means is they have moved people from social housing waiting lists onto housing assistance payments, HAP, and social housing has increased during that period. What is the consequence of all of t…

With respect to the 30,000 homes, independent experts are telling the Government that we need at least 50,000 so even hitting 30,000, if that is the true figure, comes nowhere close to what is required. Interestingly, there is no more talk of increased commencements because we only learned this week that they are now 20% down on last year. There is no more talk about increased planning permissions because again, they are down on last year.

When you look through all of the housing policy initiatives of this Government, what do they all do? Help to buy and shared equity schemes increase house prices. What does the Land Development Agency, LDA, do? Very little, because it was not given the powers actively to manage land. The so-called affordable housing programme is producing homes that are not affordable even under the criteria of the LDA or the cost rental equity loan. This week the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, echoing the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, from…

I am glad to see the Minister for homelessness finds it so funny.

What safety net?