Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The Taoiseach said nothing that will give consolation to the tens of thousands of young workers who need homes. He said nothing to console those stuck with 30 or 40 year mortgages. In fact, he lauded the concept of longer term mortgages. Some people will be saddled with mortgage repayments into their 70s. On the Taoiseach's watch, the price of an ordinary home increased by nine times the rate of inflation. That makes a mockery of the Taoiseach's commitment to so-called social partnership and the recent national wage agreement. Whereas one part of the so-called partnership is allowed to profiteer in an unbridled fashion, workers' wages do not keep pace with the price of a home for young industrial workers. If so much money is being spent on social housing, why are 50,000 families on the housing waiting list? More social houses were built in the 1930s than in recent years.

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