Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government’s Bill highlights what Sinn Féin has been saying for years, which is that Fianna Fáil is being led by the hand by developers and speculators. Are Fianna Fáil members suffering from amnesia that they do not remember what happened in the previous property crash, how they brought the country to its knees and hundreds of thousands of people had to leave this country because of the damage they did to it? The Minister is now coming forward with this new proposal for a shared equity scheme that is being supported by developers and speculators and he and his party colleagues are criticising us for not getting on board.

Fianna Fáil supported the previous Fine Gael Government, which destroyed the housing sector in this country. It never supported local authorities and never invested in social or affordable housing. Now the Minister has come in here today and is giving out about Sinn Féin and Deputy Ó Broin's policy. Deputy Ó Broin is trying to put money where it needs to be spent, in local authorities, to develop real social and affordable housing for people.

We want to work with the Government, but we cannot work with a Minister who is putting developers and speculators ahead of ordinary people. My colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, stated there are people who will never own a home as long as Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael are in government and as long as they have these policies. The problem is their policies and ideologies are that market forces will deliver. The one thing we know for a fact in this country is that if we are waiting on the market, the speculators and the developers to solve the housing crisis, it will never happen. We have told the Government. It has seen what happened. For once, could we just keep it simple? Let us build houses and deliver for ordinary people and families who want hope. That is why I am here. I campaigned on a policy to deliver affordable and social housing for people who need it and that is why we should support my colleague's Bill today.

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