Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask about the Government's plans to give €450 million in subsidies to developers. These subsidies will be used to build apartments that, according to an analysis by the Business Post, will only be affordable for people on the top 15% of incomes. In the Dáil and the national media, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has repeatedly stated that the subsidies will be going directly to homeowners and not to developers. This is simply not true. Documents published by the Housing Agency state clearly and unambiguously that these subsidies will be paid straight into the accounts of developers' solicitors. When the Cabinet signed off on this, were Ministers aware that these subsidies would be paid directly to developers or were they given the same incorrect information that the Dáil has been given? Were the Minister and his colleagues misled and told that the subsidies would be given to homeowners?

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