Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

It is particularly acute in Dublin West because houses and apartments are cheaper there. South Dublin is more expensive and as the Tánaiste stated, he can understand the housing market there is extraordinary. However, Dublin West more closely resembles the rest of Ireland in this regard. Fingal is building more houses and is creating more affordable apartments. What does one do if the family drops out of employment, walks out of the apartment, hands the keys back, reneges on the loan and goes on the public housing list?

Members used to have a view that one helped such families. However, this measure will not help them and this is the reason the amendment refers to "the plight of families and individuals leaving properties such as apartments to trade up to an affordable family home". Fianna Fáil used to fancy itself as being family friendly. However the Tánaiste's predecessor as Minister for Finance introduced individualisation and the law of the market, which told women in the home in particular that they should go out to work or they would be penalised otherwise. Stamp duty in this regard is a carryover that penalises families that try to trade up.

It is not beyond the wit of this Chamber and Members from all sides to devise a mechanism that does not destabilise the property market but that states that families in work should be encouraged to stay in work, as well as being encouraged and facilitated to have a home of a reasonable size. This is the challenge faced by the Tánaiste.

The Tánaiste stated that one could get a lovely detached house in many parts of his constituency for less than €300,000, but that amount would not buy a family house in most large cities and towns, particularly Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. The challenge for the Tánaiste is to face up to the fact that families are getting a rough time and a raw deal from the Government. Everyone on this side of the House approves of the general arrangements for first-time buyers, but the Tánaiste is missing the point.

The construction industry is entering a new and more difficult phase, but many of the people in it are super-greedy. In many ways, super-greed will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. A way of counteracting this is to devise family-friendly policies for those who wish to trade up to affordable houses. A mechanism to achieve this is being offered to the Tánaiste in this amendment and I hope he will accept it.

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