{"id":24940,"date":"2022-01-26T14:49:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T19:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24940"},"modified":"2022-01-26T14:49:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T19:49:27","slug":"taoiseach-accuses-sinn-fein-of-serial-opposition-to-housing-developments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24940","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Accuses Sinn F\u00e9in Of ‘Serial Opposition’ To Housing Developments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mr Martin said Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s stance in the D\u00e1il did not \u201cstack up\u201d when compared with the actions of its councilors across Ireland opposing housing projects for \u201cideological reasons\u201d (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Taoiseach has accused Sinn F\u00e9in of exploiting the housing crisis for electoral gain with \u201cserial\u201d opposition to housing developments across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In heated exchanges in the D\u00e1il, Miche\u00e1l Martin rejected Mary Lou McDonald\u2019s assertion that his Government was detached from reality on the scale of the problems around high rents and limited housing supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin told Ms McDonald not to dare lecture him on the subject, highlighting the challenges his own family faced as he was growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During leaders\u2019 questions, the Sinn F\u00e9in President showed Mr Martin a series of adverts from accommodation currently available for rent in Ireland, including a storeroom, a converted hallway and a room in Cork where you \u201ccould touch your fridge if you stretched your feet out of your bed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She accused the Government of pursuing policies favoring big landlords and institutional investors over the interests of people in housing need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms McDonald called on Mr Martin to put more money in renters\u2019 pockets by way of a tax debate and introduce a three-year freeze on rental increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need to do this with urgency because renters cannot wait any longer for your government to act and be clear Taoiseach, unless you do these actions, take these actions, we\u2019ll see more people pushed into homelessness, more young people moving back, and not so young moving back to their parents and homeownership will remain a pipe dream for an entire generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin said Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s stance in the D\u00e1il did not \u201cstack up\u201d when compared with the actions of its councilors across Ireland opposing housing projects for \u201cideological reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He claimed the party\u2019s public statements criticizing the involvement of institutional investors in housing projects contrasted with assurances he claimed Sinn F\u00e9in was giving big business in private about how it would act if in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou paint a narrative in terms of me being divorced from reality and all of that,\u201d said Mr Martin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to say to you deputy, my background and where I grew up and what we had to put up with was far different to yours. Don\u2019t you dare lecture me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand the realities of life as well as anybody else in this house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know a thing or two about people being in difficulty and challenges in their early days in terms of cost of living and so on and in terms of backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cIt does not stack up and your performance on the ground in councils the length and breadth of the country cannot be reconciled with what you are saying in this house at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause if we agree it\u2019s a crisis, and I do believe it\u2019s a crisis, it is a crisis, but the most effective way of dealing with it is to get housing supply in place and also to give people strength and capacity in terms of incomes and jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Taoiseach claimed Sinn F\u00e9in housing policies lacked \u201cdepth and substance\u201d as he hailed the ambition of the Government\u2019s Housing For All strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need cooperation across the board at every level and if politicians really believe it is a crisis then they should behave accordingly and stop objecting in a serial manner to housing project after housing project because it doesn\u2019t fit some ideological framework,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin added: \u201cIt\u2019s not enough for parties just to simply try and exploit a crisis for their own electoral gain because the people out there do not believe in that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms McDonald told the Taoiseach to \u201cget real\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to get real now Taoiseach, it\u2019s as simple as that, you need to turn away from the policies that haven\u2019t worked and embrace those that will,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinn F\u00e9in leader added: \u201cDon\u2019t you dare talk to me about false narratives or claim that you understand the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou clearly don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile you\u2019re there scratching your head, I\u2019ve told you two things you can do that will work \u2013 money back into renters\u2019 pockets by way of a tax rebate, do that, and a freeze for three years on rents, do that and then we might believe, and more importantly Generation Rent and renters might believe, that you finally get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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