I am sorry, the Deputy has had her say. I say this respectfully to the Deputy. She uses language about a "radical reset of housing policy". What in the name of God does it mean? The Deputy has never put any flesh on the bone of anything she has ever proposed. She is bereft of policy. What is the radical reset? Spell it out.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
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Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 23 January 2025 to now
All I ever get from Deputy Cairns's party is, "We're against this, we're against that, we're opposing that and we're doing that", for the past number of years.
It does not have a radical policy. It is nice language. It appeals to those who, without question, are under pressure, but there is no substance or depth to it.
Absolutely none. By the way, under Housing for All, we exceeded our targets - an inconvenient truth for the Opposition. The problem was people then said the targets were not high enough.
The bottom line is the population is growing exponentially and has grown. The pressures are enormous. We need to build at scale and at pace. The housing plan has substance in it in terms of proposals to do that. We did not wait for it. We decided straight in to do, for example, the national planning framework to get more land zoned for housing. Deputy Cairns will have problems with that on the ground and no doubt her…
It will not build a house this year, next year or the year after.
That is about the only concrete thing I have seen coming from Deputy Cairns's party in respect of a proposal. We have provided huge amounts of State funding. We need more private sector funding, particularly in apartments in cities.
We have also decided as a Government to invest huge moneys in water services, the national grid, public transport and roads to enable the construction of houses in cities and towns acros…
We are zoning land.
On the scale of Ireland's ambition and the targets we have set, if you compare our housing plan targets with the United Kingdom, Germany or the Netherlands, on a per capita basis, our targets are nearly double their targets in terms of what they propose. Ours are approximately 9.3 per 1,000. The United Kingdom's is 4.5, Germany's is 4.8 and the Netherlands is 5.5. No one matches the ambition of this country in terms …
-----and when it comes to delivery, in 2024-----
In 2024, of 23 European countries, Ireland had the second highest housing supply per capita.
Therefore, in terms of targets and delivery-----
-----we are to the fore across the EU.
However, we need to do it at pace and with higher numbers. We want to get to 50,000. Genuinely-----
I see nothing in the Social Democrats' presentation.
The savings and investments thing would take years to realise funding-----
-----which is not the immediate issue, by the way.
The funding is going in. If people could only allow housing in our country----
-----in terms of the planning process, objections, judicial reviews and the rest of it.
I do not see judicial reviews as a badge of honour, as Deputy Bacik does. I see them as a problem.
The Government is seeking an extension of the nitrates derogation. It is a critical element of the economic sustainability of many farmers, many family farms and the broader rural economy. However, we have established a water quality Cabinet subcommittee. There will be a new nitrates action plan and a new plan on habitats and so forth. We are different from other countries in Europe. Our farm system is unique in bein…
-----and we know it has to be in compliance with the habitats directive in addition to meeting the objective of the water framework directive.
We are showing leadership. Our dairy and beef production system is probably one of the more carbon efficient systems in Europe and the world. That is the other side of the coin.
I am not saying the Deputy is saying this but essentially the import of what he is saying would be to shut down our farming, dairy production and food production system. That would allow less carbon-efficient systems to fill the gap. I do no…
I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue. We fully acknowledge that. My understanding is that Dundrum House Hotel had not been operating as a hotel since 2015, so I do not think it ceased being a hotel because of the decision in 2022 to use it for, initially, the beneficiaries of temporary protection following the war in Ukraine. I understand the first initial use of Dundrum House Hotel was for Ukrainians fe…
The Deputy is correct that, while it was the Government overall, the Department of children handled migration. This Government has decided to move migration matters and asylum-seeking issues to the Department of justice. That is happening and that is why I mentioned the Department of justice in this context. It is now dealing with this. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has no issue meeting Deputy McGrath or other De…