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

We will consider them and she will see our response to the motion when the debate occurs. The Deputy can list statistics and that is fair enough. There are other statistics that I could mention. House prices have been falling for several months. They have fallen for nearly six months in a row In Dublin. They have peaked and they are falling. The number of people buying their first home is almost 400 a week now. This is the highest since the Celtic tiger era. The Deputy cannot deny that reality. It is a fact.

What are we doing? We have reduced development levies to increase supply. We have put in place the help-to-buy scheme, which has helped tens of thousands of people raise a deposit for their first home. We have the first home scheme in place, which bridges the gap between the mortgage people can get from the banks and the cost of the home they want to buy. We also have local authority home loans. By and large the Deputy's party do not support these policies. They would take them away and that would make it harder for people to buy their first home.

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