Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the contributions by Deputy Ó Broin and other Deputies. Affordability is at the heart of where we need to be, not a market discount. A market discount means we are going by market prices, which are not a true reflection of affordability. Affordability should be based on income. Regarding what Deputy Boyd Barrett said earlier, numerous people have contacted me who have been on the housing waiting list for as long as eight years. I spoke to a lady last night who has been on the list with her husband for eight and a half years. They got a pay increase and now they have gone off the social housing list. How can it be right that a family waited eight and a half years and now they have gone off the social housing list? They do not qualify or have enough income to get a mortgage. They do not have the deposit for the mortgage and they are trapped in the middle. That is why affordable housing has to be based on income and not on the market value, which is the core of what we are saying.

As Deputy Smith said, when two people had a job in the past, they could get a mortgage. There is a situation now where even if two people are working full-time, they still cannot get a mortgage in many cases. That is why we have to make it affordable. We have to set the rates at between 25% and 30% of a person's income as a guide and not more than 30%, because some people are paying up to 50% or more. That is not sustainable and it is not a life for people to have.