{"id":26328,"date":"2022-05-25T10:41:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T14:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26328"},"modified":"2022-05-25T10:41:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T14:41:14","slug":"sinn-fein-says-government-is-failing-spectacularly-on-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26328","title":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in Says Government Is ‘Failing Spectacularly’ On Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pearse Doherty attacked the record of the Government on housing (PA Archive\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in has accused the Government of \u201cfailing spectacularly\u201d on housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party\u2019s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty lambasted Minister for Housing Darragh O\u2019Brien in the D\u00e1il on Wednesday, accusing the Government of failing to tackle the housing crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExtortionate rents continue to soar with the number of rental properties now at an all-time low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOff-the-wall house prices that are up again, beyond the reach of ordinary workers and families and the scourge of homelessness now is returning to the shameful pre-Covid-19 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we now hear that your targets for housing are under serious threat due to spiraling construction costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy any objective measure minister, your approach is failing and you are failing spectacularly,\u201d Mr Doherty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn your watch, Minister, things have gone from bad to worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Doherty took aim at specific Government policies, referring to the new Croi Conaithe scheme to support the building of apartments for owner-occupiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scheme has proved controversial, with opposition parties calling it a giveaway to developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd amid this social catastrophe, what do we get from you as Housing Minister?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA ban on rent increase in and evictions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. A serious ramping up of direct delivery of genuinely affordable homes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. An initiative to cut rents. Not on your watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we get instead is a bonkers scheme where you\u2019re going to give 450 million euro of taxpayers\u2019 money to developers to build apartments where there will be no reduction in the prices that would be charged for homeowners. It is absolutely off the wall stuff,\u201d Mr Doherty told the housing minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Doherty told the Housing Minister that he had personally told the D\u00e1il last week that the purchase price for the apartments in the scheme would be \u20ac250,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinn F\u00e9in TD cited an \u201cunpublished document\u201d circulated between developers and the Housing Agency, which he said contradicted that claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is straight from the old Fianna F\u00e1il playbook that destroyed the housing system at the start, when you were last in Government,\u201d Mr Doherty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr O\u2019Brien rejected idea it was \u201csecret document\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a targeted measure to support homeownership in our five major cities across the country, where the supports goes directly to the homeowner,\u201d Mr O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will be launching an open for people who are stuck in that rental trap, stuck in that affordability trap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that the Government\u2019s shared equity scheme will help \u201cthousands of young and not so young people bridge the gap between the finance that they have and the finance that they need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the Government was delivering more social homes this year than ever before.<\/p>\n

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