Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I spoke to a number of young people last week about many things but especially their plans for the future. Of course, travel featured on many of their lists. It has always been said that the time to do it is when we are young, but I was shocked by how many were planning for their travel to be permanent. Emigration was a consistently common thread across many of these people's plans. One person stated that loads of their mates were in America already and that person would probably end up there. Another said her friend had moved to Samoa where he now has his own house for the price of a student room in Dublin. It is no newsflash that we are losing many of our young professionals to emigration but every time I come face to face with it, there is something so bleak about the reality that, almost exclusively on account of their housing prospects, young Irishmen and Irishwomen see no future for themselves in their own country.

It always makes me think, do we not have a duty to these people? To whom is our allegiance? Is it to the Exchequer, to multinational companies and to faceless overseas trusts generating percentage point profits for people who will never set foot in this country, or is it to our own, the ordinary people of Ireland? They are not seeking inflated real estate portfolios or passive income investments but a roof over their heads and the opportunity to make a life for themselves just as we were all able to do. Ireland is a country of extraordinary wealth. We boast Europe's second largest GDP per capita and the Government spends a staggering €80 billion every year on running the place, yet the basic need of Irish citizens is made unattainable.

Perhaps the phrase "Irish homes for Irish people" sounds a little alt-right to some people, as if meeting the needs of our own country is now extremism, but it is working well for the Danish. Foreigners who have not been resident in Denmark for a period of five years or more may only purchase real estate property if they obtain permission from the Danish Ministry of Justice, which is granted on a case-by-case basis. This rule also applies to companies, associations, public or private institutions, foundations and foreign public authorities. It is very simple. In Denmark, houses are for living in and not for generating profits. If people are local, they can buy. If not, they must become locals first or show they will become so in the next few years. It is not that there are no other people in the queue for Danish houses. It is just that the Danes come first and are put there by their own Government.

I do not expect an about-turn on housing policy in this country. Perhaps this is some food for thought. We ought to examine how a Danish-style system might work in Ireland.