Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We should not misrepresent what the Housing Commission was asked to do. The Housing Commission was asked to come up with recommendations about how to move forward with housing. That is what we asked it to do. We asked it to come up with recommendations. It has done the work and we thank it for that. We now consider the recommendations. The first thing we should do is publish the report. That will happen this week, then the Government will respond to the recommendations. I find it peculiar, when a Government asks people to come together and give ideas for the future, how it is misrepresented as something it is not. This is about what we do next, now that we have a functioning housing market, a growing workforce and increasing supply.

When it comes to being radical, we have already taken many radical steps, including interventions in the housing market that were never considered before. Last year had the largest social housing supply in 50 years. There are the first-time buyers' grants that Deputy McDonald would scrap, the establishment of the Land Development Agency, a rent tax credit, cost-rental, and reform of the planning laws. What is really radical when it comes to housing policy is that Deputy McDonald comes in here every day and outlines the housing challenge, and has yet to publish a full plan. All Sinn Féin would do for first-time buyers is abolish the supports we have put in place.

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