Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin is for public housing and affordable housing. We are very clear on that. The evidence of the Taoiseach's housing failures is there for all to see and is very real. It is not propaganda. The suffering and anger of workers, families and younger people, in particular, who cannot afford a home is real; it is not fiction.

The Government's proposed shared equity loan scheme will prop up unaffordable prices, line the pockets of developers and leave ordinary people out in the cold. That is the simple, plain fact of the matter. The Taoiseach can play whatever games he wishes but people know that housing policy has been a disaster on his watch in the past. We are watching now again while he makes more disastrous decisions in slow motion. Therefore, I ask him again to listen to the experts and to common sense, to ditch this lame duck scheme and do the right thing.

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