Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Vulture funds have been let run riot for years at the expense of potential homeowners who scrimp and save every penny they have in the hope of one day owning their own homes.

When we debated this issue in May 2021, the Government was warned that the measures it was bringing in were not close to being enough. The Government has always had an open ear for those who seek to make massive profits off the back of the housing crisis. Half-baked measures and half-baked policies are always the order of the day.

A couple living in Dublin who want to buy a standard three-bedroom house will have to be earning €127,000 even to be considered for a mortgage. Not only are people competing with each other, they are competing with international funds that have no interest in building communities. The only thing those funds want is to make a quick profit. A fund is buying up 46 of the 54 family homes in Belcamp Manor, which has caused outrage. To top it all off, those homes are on the rental market for €3,175 a month, which, the Minister of State may , I think, agree is an eye-watering amount.

People feel like they are playing a rigged game and that the Government is writing the rules in favour of the funds, which are only here to make a profit on the back of the housing crisis. This is all being done under the Minister of State's watch. Failed target after failed target, false promise after false promise - the people out there are sick of it. It is about time the Minister of State and the Government sort this madness out.

See this speech in context