Rory Hearne

The Taoiseach just said I was nothing of the sort. I was an academic in Maynooth. That is-----

This is the same nonsense. The Taoiseach is trying to take me down. My academic-----

I am, but I was also an academic in Maynooth. The Taoiseach said I am nothing of the sort of a housing expert.

The Taoiseach did. He said I was nothing of the sort.

There is also housing policy. That is an expertise.

That is part of housing.

Yes, it does. Housing policy is-----

The Taoiseach is making derogatory comments.

There are a couple of things I want to raise in this very important debate. We know we have a housing crisis and a housing emergency. The first one is the issue of responsibility and accountability. We have a fundamental problem here in that water is clearly on the Department of housing's website as one of its core five competencies, along with planning, housing, heritage and local government. Ir…

Young people are despairing. They are giving up hope that this country will ever provide them with the fundamental need and human right of a home. The people we need - nurses, teachers, doctors, tradespeople and therapists - have emigrated because of the lack of affordable housing. At a housing summit yesterday, Sherry FitzGerald said it is likely that just 25,000 homes will be built this year. Th…

It keeps people in their homes.

We are only highlighting the baseless election claims on it.

What is very clear is that Trump does not care about working people in the US. He does not care about working people in Europe or anywhere. What he is doing to the world economy and the US economy is sending it into freefall. As my colleague said, Trump's new world order will require a shift in our economy and our economic model. This will result in a shift globally. The question is how do we resp…

You would want to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the parents of children with additional needs who spoke to us last week. They broke down telling their stories of the failure of the State to provide them with appropriate school places and services. I am supporting parents in my constituency whose children are locked out of education. In area CHO 9 more than 3,000 children are waiting for…

The Minister's responses to Sinn Féin on bringing forward this motion were a bit glib and petty. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. It is important that we are very clear on the issue. I am disappointed to hear the Government is not supporting the motion. It is understandable that people are extremely concerned about the potential return of water charges. I remember the massive dev…

The housing crisis situation is an emergency and I ask the Minister to take this motion on board. I thank its proposers for tabling it. There are many ideas in it that we in the Social Democrats have put forward. It was ten years ago, when I was involved with trade union groups and housing campaigns, that we called on Fine Gael, which was in government at the time, to declare the housing crisis a…

It is very clear that this Government is taking us away from the cherished neutrality we have had as a country and as a republic. Our neutrality is something that is core to what it means to be Irish today. It is not a passive thing but something that needs to be chosen and protected. What the Government is doing is shattering that neutrality. Arguably, it is making this decision without a proper …

There is nothing stopping the Minister of State sharing the time with them.

Figures for house prices came out yesterday. We are now seeing astronomical house prices and the highest rate of increase in inflation for eight years. The median price of a home is now €420,000. What nurse, garda or bus driver can afford these house prices? What is the Government doing by way of an emergency reaction to the housing crisis, particularly in the area of affordable housing delivery? …

They say there are delays.

No, it is the institutional funds.

They did not vote for Michael Lowry.

We did not see Micheal Lowry in the manifesto.

Come on.

4. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to recent CSO data showing that the number of new homes approved annually fell by over 21% in 2024; his plans to introduce an alternative policy measure to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12895/25]