Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Seriously, what planet is the Tánaiste living on? It is time for him to get his head out of the sand. The Tánaiste has been in government for ten years. The Tánaiste was Taoiseach for a period of that time, yet he tries to blame everybody else for this issue. That does not wash. The reality is that this is his housing crisis. It costs €439,000 to buy the cheapest apartment in Dublin city. Under his Governments over the past ten years, people are paying rents of up to €2,600 per month, yet the Tánaiste wants to blame everybody else. He knows the facts fine well. Sinn Féin has not opposed a single social or affordable housing development in Dublin. Contrast that with the Tánaiste's councillors who have voted against thousands of social and affordable housing schemes in Clondalkin and Tallaght. That is the reality of it. The Tánaiste has been told time and time again that some of the policies that he has introduced are fuelling house prices. Do not take Sinn Féin's word for it. The help-to-buy scheme has been attacked by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, which stated it will push up house prices and that is exactly what it is doing.

Look at the shared equity scheme that the Government is introducing. The most senior civil servant in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said that the scheme is about lining the pockets of developers.

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