Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Government claims the shared ownership scheme between first-time buyers and local authorities to be one of the successes of its so-called housing policy. Is the Taoiseach aware that the price limit for a housing unit that may be purchased via this scheme in the four local authority areas covering this city and its environs is between €210,000 and €275,000? Does the Taoiseach share with Members the despair of those first-time buyers, given the limitations that apply under this scheme? The set figures deny people who aspire to shared ownership via this scheme and close it off for them entirely across the greater Dublin area.

Last week, Sinn Féin conducted a survey in the four Dublin local authority areas. A total of 24 estate agents across Dublin were surveyed and we found only 12 properties across the four areas for sale within the limits of the shared ownership scheme as laid down in each of the authority areas. A total of 11 of the properties were located within the Dublin City Council area. No suitable accommodation was found in the Fingal or South Dublin County Council areas and only one was found in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Of the 11 properties found in the Dublin City Council area, three were so-called apartments. They were little more than one room and one bedroom facilities. Seven of them were one bedroom apartments, ranging in price from €195,000 to €260,000. We only found a single two bedroom house, which was priced at €259,000.

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