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

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht a chuid ceiste. Is ceist thábhachtach í freisin. First, I thank the Housing Commission for the work it has done. I remind Deputies in the House that we established the commission. It was a programme for Government commitment. The commission has done a good job. I welcome independent analysis, and that is in stark contrast to the Deputy himself and his own party.

I remind him that on 31 October, I wrote to him and to his housing spokesperson, Deputy Ó Broin, asking him to publish his independent analysis of his party's measures that would take the legs from under first-time buyers. I refer to the abolition of the help to buy grant, with which 45,000 households were assisted to buy their own homes, and of the first home scheme that he railed against as well. That scheme has had nearly 10,000 registrations and 5,000 approvals. His party also said it would abolish the Land Development Agency, which is delivering homes, and the vacancy grant. On 31 October, I wrote to Deputy Doherty, as the spokesperson on finance for his party, along with Deputy Ó Broin, and said he might at a minimum submit a comprehensive sectoral analysis of the impact of his proposed withdrawal of such supports and abolition of the LDA on housing supply as well as home buying. I asked the Deputies that directly. There was no answer. I did not receive a response. I even checked my email again. I checked the junk folder where I would expect his policies to be. Then I wrote back again to Deputy Ó Broin on 8 January and I detailed all the supports that are working for first-time buyers to deliver the affordable homes the Deputy says he wants. While writing, I asked Deputy Ó Broin to publish the analysis and perhaps even to go further and publish the Sinn Féin housing plan. This is the Sinn Féin housing plan that the party spokesperson said he would publish more than 12 months ago.

I absolutely welcome independent analysis. It is a fact to say that over 70% of the recommendations made by the Housing Commission have either been done by Government or it is doing. I will give a number of examples. Deputies may have heard the chair of the Housing Commission today. In his response, will the Deputy tell me if he will publish the Sinn Féin housing plan and the analysis of the impact it would have on first-time buyers by removing the very supports that are helping people buy their homes? While he is scrambling around among his colleagues, I ask Deputy Doherty if he agrees with the chair of the Housing Commission. I address this to Deputy Doherty specifically. This is important question for him to answer. I ask him to answer it directly.

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