Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If Deputy Ó Broin has put forward the motion as a plan, he should put some detail behind it. Will he provide clarity on whether these homes would be eligible for mortgages due to the first-charge and leasehold concerns? What restrictions would be placed on the property? We know that people would not be able to freely sell their home in a leasehold position, but would Sinn Féin put in place other restrictions? Would they be prevented from doing any work, such as home renovations or extensions? Very interestingly, the Deputies never mentioned eligibility. In the most recent Sinn Féin affordable housing document I saw, which was a long time ago, there was a threshold of €80,000 on the affordable housing scheme. If that remained, it would mean ordinary workers, such as a typical garda or teacher, to whom Deputy Kenny referred, would not be eligible, but Sinn Féin has not published any eligibility criteria.

Moreover, the Deputies mentioned they would guarantee affordable prices, waive development levies and make a further contribution where necessary. What is the level of that contribution? Is Sinn Féin going to use the affordable housing fund I set up to do that? Would they waive the equity on that? Even in the case of the local authority-led affordable purchase scheme, as the Deputies will know, the State takes an equity in the home, but they have said during this debate that it would not. Effectively, therefore, there would be no stake at all on the part of the State in the property. That additional, magical contribution Sinn Féin is going to introduce to make these homes affordable appears not to have any equity stake in it. The other question is how long it is going to take Sinn Féin, if it gets into government, to stand up this scheme. What land is it going to use? Would it be this infinite resource of public land that is apparently out there? We know about its track record of objecting and voting against developments, such as Ballymastone in my area and many others I have mentioned, including the site with 253 affordable and social units and private homes as well.

Those are very basic questions Sinn Féin should be able to answer, and it should publish the finances behind it. What level of house building does it want to see? What would be the subvention and the investment by the State? It has stated within the motion that it hopes prices will fall to less than €300,000 but there is a kicker at the end, namely, "depending on size and location". Again, that is a very detailed policy document Sinn Féin has put forward. These are very legitimate questions Deputy Ó Broin should answer but, as in the case of questions I have posed previously, it has never answered them-----

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