-----for Irish farmers than Deputy Carthy will ever achieve-----

-----whether it was nitrates-----

-----whether it was Mercosur, whether it is TB or whether it is work on bluetongue. Let us be honest-----

-----when it comes to Sinn Féin, this is not about food on the table; it is about a head on a plate.

You would swear the number of new houses was down today, based on that. The number of new homes completed last year represents an increase of 20% on the previous year. For the people listening at home - and just in case they missed the bit at the start - there were almost 6,000 homes built last year than the year before. We are now living in a country where 600 first-time buyers are buying their first homes every week. The Deputy talks about people living in box rooms. Yes, there are too many. He talks about hopele…

The ESRI forecast that 35,000 homes would be built. We have exceeded that. The Central Bank of Ireland forecast that 33,500 would be built. We have exceeded that. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council forecast an assumption for this year of 34,500. We have exceeded that. We need to continue to do much more. The plan that this Government has is to deliver 300,000 homes by the end of 2030. This is a positive contribution towards that. It is a significant increase. If the Deputy looks at the graph, he will see that it was…

We have a target. We have a whole plan. It is fully funded, it is published and it contains a commitment to deliver 300,000 homes. We are making progress in relation to that as well.

We have explained that very clearly. We made a decision. Whether a home is built in December or January does not make a fundamental difference.

What makes a fundamental difference is the total amount of supply built over a five-year period.

Sorry, Deputy O'Callaghan is the deputy leader of his party. Maybe Deputy Hearne will get a turn one day. Deputy O'Callaghan is well able; he asked the question. We built 6,000 more homes last year than the year before. That is progress. We built 30,330 in 2024 and 36,284 homes last year. The Deputy does not want any hope in relation to this. The Deputy wants to continue to talk down the progress that is being made. It is the highest number of completions-----

The cacophony from those opposite is hard to take. It is the highest number of completions since 2011 - from single-digit thousands to 36,200. Let us build on that. Let us come forward with ideas as to how to take that forward, but let us take at least one minute or a couple of seconds to acknowledge that the number of housing completions for last year exceeded the forecasts of the ESRI, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and, probably, the Deputy's own expectations as well.

Let us build on that work and help more young people get out of their parents' homes. While we are comparing figures, let us compare apples with apples. The population of this country has increased by more than 750,000 over a ten-year period, but the Deputy never wants to factor that in-----

-----as well when the term "highest ever" is used. We have had the highest number of first-time mortgage drawdowns ever since figures began and 600 people are getting keys to their first home every week. That is progress. We have a lot more to do, but these figures today give us momentum to build on.

I know we come at these things from a very different place ideologically, but we need private investment to help build homes. We do not wish to live in a country where every house is built by the State. Can I just be clear about that? We want to build social homes. I think we are on track to build a very significant number this year, and we will have the figures for 2025. We want to build affordable homes and, heaven forbid, we would also like more private homes, and that ain’t a bad thing either. There are lots of…

The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is reminding us of the irony of knocking on doors, looking for votes, at the same doors that you opposed ever being built. It is something we should all reflect on in this House. We all come under pressure in our communities to object to this and object to that. Sometimes-----

You guys can take this up in Dún Laoghaire. I think it is a point worth considering.

Sorry. Hang on a second.

She is the democratically elected TD for Dún Laoghaire.

The Minister is well able to handle herself, and I am sure she will pursue this. There is a direct correlation between supply and demand and affordability. The Deputy is right. We all want to see more affordable homes. We know that one of the things that drives up prices is if there is more demand for homes than supply, and, therefore, we have to increase supply. I think we agree on that point. I fundamentally disagree that we do not need more planning applications or more planning permissions granted. We absolutel…

I thank Deputy Tóibín for raising the issue and asking the questions. First, I just want to be conscious in my own comments that there are still weather warnings in place in our country. The weather event that many communities are experiencing is still ongoing, with particular warnings for Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford. There is more rain forecast over the coming days and flooding will continue to be a risk due to saturated ground conditions and very elevated river levels. I urge everyone…