Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are stating very clearly that we do not believe the help-to-buy scheme is doing what it is supposed to do or what it says on the tin, so to speak. It is not helping those who need it most or who are looking to buy a house for the very first time.

It was mentioned earlier that we believe there is a need for proper social or public housing as well as a proper affordable housing plan, which we have yet to see. The reality is that where I am from in Galway city, there was a ten-year period in which not a single unit of public housing was built. The repercussions are that people have now been on the social housing waiting list in Galway city for 15 years and have never been offered a home.

We need to act urgently on this housing crisis. The Government has a scheme that we do not believe is helping people so we are asking for a report on it. The Minister disagrees, which is fair enough, but we are still asking for an investigation into whether we are correct in saying the scheme is not doing what it is supposed to. I urge the Minister to allow that report to go ahead.

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