We do not do anything like that in our group.

Sentiment score: -0.28

I thank the Sinn Féin Party for bringing this motion to the House. This is not about stopping funds but about building enough homes for Irish families to be able to afford to live in their own communities. It is well worth noting that. We know that 41% of people aged 18 to 34 are still living in their parents' box rooms. That is a fact. Since 2020, house prices are up by 40%. Rents increased by 84% from 2020 to 2022. Some places are recording increases of between 150% and 200% in rents. Last week the Government brought to the House what it thought was a great idea with the residential tenancies Bill. What it has achieved is moving out the small landlords. The people who depended on a second house, which they may have inherited, are getting out of the business because the Government put in the six years criterion without thinking of people going into homes who may need to sell the estate to finance that, and without thinking of people renting out their homes to students from UCC, UG or UCD for nine months. It is not thinking about that at all. It has created a monster. Everything the Government is doing is creating a monster. It is putting extra red tape around everything and destroying things. The Government seems to be working these days for the likes of Pepper Finance and these repossession companies that are using both the Commercial Court and the District Court as collection agencies, screwing people to the wall. The Galway tent may have closed but the alignment that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have with developers and these types of people is still very evident by the continuous bills and tax exemptions it seems to give to these people. Huge apartment blocks can be seen in Cherrywood and people think they must be full, but a lot of them are empty. They are being rented out in stages – ten here and ten there – mainly to keep up the price of the rent, which is in excess of €2,000. The developer does not want to lose that €2,000-plus rent that he or she can command. We have a lot of empty apartment blocks around this city - I suspect it is similar around other cities – where the demand is falsified in order to ensure there is very tight and limited supply. I heard Members in the House talk about a State construction company and how the State should take charge. I would not put this Government in charge of anything any more. We have seen what it has done with the bike shed outside the door and the children’s hospital. In fact, if we put the Government in charge of the dog’s home, I am pretty sure all the members of the Government would come home with fleas. That is how poor and bad this Government has been.

Sentiment score: 0.07