Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I answered the Deputy's question in the first part. We have made this decision and we believe it is the right one in the public interest. We know it is controversial and is going to be difficult to defend, but it is nonetheless, in our honest view, the right decision and in the public interest. Deputy Cairns mentioned being a leader, and I congratulate her on her recent election. Being a leader means standing over your decisions. I will stand over this decision.

You cannot go around saying you want to help people to become homeowners when you opposed the help-to-buy scheme, which has helped 30,000 young people to become owners, and the Affordable Housing Act, by means of which the first home scheme was created. You have to stand over the decisions your party makes. Tens of thousands of young people have bought homes in the past two years. They would not have done so if we had had a Social Democrats housing Minister.

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