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

The Government is not driving construction. It has left renters in the lurch, it will not cut rents and it will not ensure that there will be no rent increases for the next three years. It has no clue about affordability. In the cloud cuckoo land that the Government inhabits, €450,000 for a house in Dublin is affordable apparently. That is not the case.

Above all else, the Government's policy has consistently favoured and facilitated big developers, landlords and private investment funds. What happened in Maynooth was not an accident; it is a direct consequence of the Government's policies, which it has designed and defended. It has cut a sweetheart deal arrangement for these investment funds with no corporation tax, no capital gains tax, and only minimal stamp duty. The result is that these big wealthy funds can swoop in and gobble up those houses that workers and families should expect to be able to afford.

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