Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We could talk about affordability all night: there are many aspects to it. On the affordable housing scheme, the criteria has been assigned. I provided my thoughts on some of it and did not agree with parts of it. We should look again at the upper limits of €75,000 for couples. I am anxious to understand the price the Department is considering selling the affordable homes at. The average price of a home currently is around €380,000, which is not affordable for most people, particularly considering the pressures on supply mentioned by the Minister.

In recent weeks we have been made aware of the number of built units that have been purchased by real estate investment trusts. That is affecting the market because some houses in my area which are within the reach of normal families to buy have been hoovered up by REITs and what are now referred to as "cuckoo funds". That is not a recent phenomenon in the past couple of months. When will the scheme open for applications and what will the prices be?

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