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

We know, and the Minister has reiterated the fact, that Fine Gael and the Government benches do not want housing to be affordable. There is no great surprise in that. Certainly, our farming friend in Monaghan and people beyond that know full well that if they ever had an expectation of homes being affordable on the Government's watch, that expectation is truly dashed at this stage. There is no breaking news on that.

I raised a very specific issue, namely, that despite promises to the contrary, vulture funds continue to snap up family homes. In Belcamp Manor, on the north side of this city, this meant 85% of a particular development being snapped up and bought from under the noses of people who have saved really hard and desperately want to put a roof over their heads. I am simply asking the Government, having failed thus far, to sort this out. We heard last time that it agreed with us that this is an unacceptable practice, so we want it to stop.

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