Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The policy of inviting and incentivising investment funds into the Irish housing market has been disastrous for a generation of young people in Ireland. People are in the ridiculous position of trying to compete with investment funds that can swoop in and buy up hundreds and even thousands of homes at inflated prices. This is pushing up the price of housing and contributing to the current shameful situation where for many young people, owning a home is nothing but a pipe dream. Fine Gael and the Labour Party introduced the system that brought these investment funds into the Irish market, awarding them frankly outrageous tax advantages and exemptions, including not having to pay corporation tax on income earned from rent. This has contributed to the dysfunctional, cruel housing market we have now. It has locked out people struggling to buy their own homes and is fuelling higher rents. Here we are, nearly a decade on, dealing with the repercussions of this terrible policy decision.

In 2022, working people are finding it almost impossible to house themselves in a way that is affordable and sustainable. People who are on decent pay and who in previous generations would never have struggled to buy a home are now unable to do so. We all know why people want to own their own homes so badly. The rental market is absolutely bonkers. Rents are astronomical and increasing month on month, year on year, and there is no stability or security of tenure for anybody. That is if one can find a place to rent. A recent report from daft.iestated the number of properties for rent is the lowest since it began tracking in 2006. Rents in Louth increased by more than 8% in the past year alone. We need to make housing affordable and we need to allow our young people to live their lives without the enormous worry and stress of paying for housing hanging over them. Young people are not able to live normal lives. Living with one's parents well into one's 20s and 30s is not normal, nor is it fair. People are putting off getting married and having children. Many, of course, are leaving the country altogether, not because they are unemployed but because successive Governments have made it impossible for them to live here.

I cannot fathom how the Minister, in all good conscience, can continue with these policies, knowing the damage, stress, sheer anxiety and enormous financial pressure and burden they are putting on his own people. Most people outside this bubble are asking the same question, which is, why continue with those policies?

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