Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The question will arise in the coming weeks as to whether the Irish people and those who need housing can afford another few years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I am convinced they cannot. I am relieved that there is a viable alternative. I am passionate and committed to the vision Deputy Ó Broin has put forward on this because, for the first time in many years, it offers a pathway forward to truly affordable housing. The fact is that for people of my generation, that is becoming further and further out of reach, particularly for those who are not in a position to qualify for social housing but will barely be given a second glance by banks or will only be approved for an amount that will not be enough to buy anything.

I listened to the Minister. Sometimes I allow myself a wry smile when he characterises Sinn Féin as populist as his Government leans further and further into solutions that sound good on paper but actually inflate and inflate and make the situation profoundly worse for people of my generation. I will ask a question to which I do not know the answer. Frankly, I shudder to think what the price of housing will be if this Government gets back in and its policies continue to let rip in terms of the housing policy and vision it has that sees housing entirely as an asset for the interest of investment and is not truly delivering affordable housing but, rather, putting it further and further out of reach.

So-called affordable housing schemes in my constituency touch almost €400,000 even before we get into deferred equity, and it is deferred equity if people want to own that home outright. Under the Sinn Féin proposal, people will own their home. They will own it just as much as I own my home. They will be able to pass it on their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren or to extend it, and they will be able to afford it. The Minister tries to line up his alternative to what we are putting forward but he does not have one. The Government is doing nothing - absolutely zero - for people in that category. It does not have an equivalent.

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