Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----in order that people can get into their heads the year of magical thinking in which we are all involved from a monetary point of view. I ask the Leader for an explanation of this, or perhaps the relevant Minister might come in and tell us about PwC. I would like to have outlined to me what its expertise is, since the first thing it did was to telephone England and find some other organisation that might be able to research what has happened here for €450,000. I just question its expertise. Why must it bring in someone from outside this island? There is nothing wrong with doing so, but we could have done that ourselves. That is the first thing. I want an explanation.

The second matter I wish to raise concerns the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan. A very interesting thing happened on a certain road in Ireland recently. Two semi-detached houses were up for sale at reasonable prices. Families with two, three and four children came to view the houses and queued, but the houses were bought by Chinese people who were able not only to match the price but nearly to double it and pay in cash. In this country Chinese businessmen are given residency and the possibility of national passports - there is nothing wrong with that - for investments, be they in research, property or other fields. I would like some explanations about this. There is nothing wrong with people buying houses if they have a legal right to do so, but I think this activity is pushing up prices here for all the wrong reasons. I know of two or three instances of students living in the houses, which could be best bought by the Irish and be home to a family of five or six. I just want an explanation on this, what is happening about it and how many properties have been bought this way.I am talking about residential properties. I am not talking about investments, research or high finance but about ordinary family houses. How many of these have been bought by non-nationals and how many people have been priced out of the market?