Are you keeping your promise any time soon?

I move that: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the housing crisis continues to deepen for ordinary workers and families while corporate landlords, investors and developers make ever greater profits; — residential property prices have increased by 47.7 per cent since 2020, pushing first-time buyers further into debt to secure a home, while locking many out of home ownership; — high rents and residential property prices are making it increasingly difficult for workers and families to purchase and own their own home, l…

Let us have it straight. Let us talk about the facts here. I mentioned that 2,000 homes had been purchased by vulture funds over the past number of years. That is only the tip of the iceberg, however, because, as we know, vulture funds do not have to register up to ten homes that they purchase in any given year. Thousands and thousands of homes are being snatched up by vulture funds, big landlords and other companies. Most of them are second-hand homes. People are sick to the back teeth of this nonsense, and the Go…

What the Government has done is that it has sold Ireland. Not only has it sold Ireland, it has sold out its people. I ask it to do the right thing today. I ask it to live up to the commitment it gave and to the words in the programme for Government, which state that it will make sure this is stopped. How can the Government tolerate this? Last year, there were 293 homes alone, and many more unregistered because of the other loopholes it has added in. The motion is simple. We call on every Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael D…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

You wanted to put them in government, Peadar.

You are only angry that you are not in-----

As I said earlier, the motion is a simple proposition. At its core it asks the Government to do what it said it was going to do, namely fulfil its commitment given before the election in the form of the Minister, Deputy Harris, and what it put in the programme for Government in black and white for all of us to see. The Minister of State referred to many other aspects of housing we could get into debates about such as how the Government missed its targets over and over, how it is pushing house prices beyond the reac…

Will the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, provide an honest update on flood relief schemes across the State? As we know, the catchment-based flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, report, which carried out an evaluation of the entire State, identified 150 schemes. This was announced back in 2018 with huge fanfare. A total of 150 new schemes were going to be delivered. I note the Government keeps referring to schemes that have been delivered, including schemes that were delivered when I was a teena…

We have a serious problem here. I note that the Minister of State mentioned the 13,500 properties that are protected but the Dáil was told the same number of properties were protected in 2023. The fact is that we have not protected a single additional property since. The numbers have not changed in the past couple of years. According to the Government's website, I think 143 or 144 schemes were identified eight years ago and still have not been completed. I know that nothing can be done overnight and the Government …

I appreciate what the Minister of State is saying. I also appreciate that the Minister of State was not in office during the eight years I am talking about. However, his Cabinet colleagues were. We lost a lot of time when no schemes were delivered. That is the problem. In 2024, three schemes were supposed to be delivered but none were. I want to go back to the national flood forecasting and warning service. Less than €6 million of the nearly €20 million allocated has been delivered. As I said, this is a project tha…

It has been ten years and we do not have it.

I mí an Mheithimh 2024, scríobh an Tánaiste faoi mholadh cánach do thithe atá ag teastáil ó cheannaitheoirí céaduaire. Dúirt sé nach féidir cur suas leis agus thug sé gealltanas nach dtarlóidh seo arís, ach ar aghaidh go dtí i mbliana 2026 agus ceisteanna curtha air, dheimhnigh sé go raibh 293 teach bulc-cheannaithe díreach anuraidh ag creach-chistí agus tiarnaí talún corparáideacha. An nglacann an Tánaiste leis go bhfuil teipthe iomlán ar a pholasaí anois? This week, the Government's damning failure in housing has…

The Tánaiste gave a commitment in 2024. He said that the bulk purchasing of these homes by vulture funds should not be tolerated, cannot be tolerated. He is the Minister for Finance. He has not just been tolerating this once or twice. He tolerated it 293 times last year. These were 293 opportunities snapped away by vulture funds from young people who wanted to buy their first home. The Tánaiste stands there and somehow defends this because he offers no solutions. It could not be tolerated in 2024 and it should not …

In all my time in politics I probably only ever saw the anger of the Donegal people as acute as I have seen it in recent days and that was with regard to the handling of defective blocks in the county. There is probably a thread that runs through this. The Minister who refused to come to our county and meet homeowners with defective blocks was the Minister for housing at the time, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is now the Minister for Transport who signed the contract that ended the midday flights from Donegal to Dubl…

The Minister of State talked about the airport. Staff at Donegal Airport are ripping about this. They are actually taking legal advice. They told the Department not to enter into the contract. We told the Department not to enter into the contract. I put it to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach. The Minister of State said the Minister for Transport is listening. The Minister just gave a slap in the face to the people of Donegal. He entered into a contract. It is there in black and white. I have a copy and it refers to "…