John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

On the issue of housing, the Government has failed on all accounts. This includes not only the astronomical cost of buying a house but also homelessness, the supply of social housing and planning. The State gets €50,000 from every new house that is built. The greatest profit margin is secured not by the developer but by the Government. A couple buying a new house is, in effect, giving the State €50,000 while the first time buyer's grant has been abolished.

I recently raised with the Government the badly needed 500 new local authority houses in County Sligo.

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