Government only offers parents' box rooms, rip-off rents or emigration says Mary Lou McDonald

With the General Election expected to be announced this week, Mary Lou McDonald has told the Dáil that people across Ireland are being forced to live with the Government's "joint failure" in addressing the housing crisis.

Speaking in Leinster House on Tuesday, 5 November, the Sinn Féin leader said that house prices continue to be beyond the reach of working people, "rip-off rents" continue to rise, and that the country is facing record levels of homelessness which "we never ever thought we would see".

McDonald told the Taoiseach: "While so many struggle to put and keep a secure roof over their heads, your affordable housing schemes make a mockery of the term affordable."

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She continued to say that the Government "courted and backed" vulture and cuckoo funds as well as tolerating the bulk-buying of homes "under the noses of first time buyers."

McDonald said that the Government delivered less homes this year in comparison to last year, adding: "that's not turning a corner, Taoiseach, that's called going backwards."

She said that the Government's new housing targets are yet again too low, being 20% lower than the Housing Commission's recommendation.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik joined in on criticising the Government's decision to hold off on revising its housing targets until the end of its term.

Bacik said that the late publication of the new numbers was regrettable and it was too late now to have any prospect of real change.

McDonald said that unlike Fianna Gael and Fianna Fáil, her party can offer people "hope" in tackling the housing crisis.

Taoiseach Simon Harris defended the Government's efforts in abating the housing crisis. 

He agreed that it is the biggest challenge facing this generation and it should continue to be the top priority for the Government.

However, he said that there has been progress and Budget 2025 has addressed many of the key issues in the crisis.