Sinn Féin Senator and European candidate Lynn Boylan has said the government’s failed bid to host the EU’s new anti-money laundering agency requires urgent scrutiny and review.

She said that the housing crisis presided over by the current government is likely to have been a key factor in their failure to secure support for the bid, and that the lack of housing risks destabilising the economy.

Senator Boylan said:

“The government’s failure in its bid to have Dublin host the EU’s new anti-money laundering agency requires urgent scrutiny and review.

“The fact that Ireland’s bid did not even get past the first round of voting is a damning indictment of this government.

“We need to know why this bid failed so miserably, and why Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil could not secure the support of their EPP and Renew partners.

“We have known for a long time that the housing crisis presided over and exacerbated by the current government risks destabilising the economy, and it would appear to me that this is likely to have been a key factor in the failure to secure support for Ireland’s bid.

“Locating the agency in Dublin would have created up to 400 jobs. But the obvious question for any agency or multinational looking at establishing a base in Dublin is where will their workers live.

“Research, data and testimonies from organisations such as Ibec, Chambers Ireland, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association (ISME), the Irish Exporters Association, and the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC), all point to the destabilising effect that the housing crisis is having on our economic competitiveness and productivity.

“That is an increasing concern, and only a change of government, and change of Housing Minister, will address the housing crisis for the betterment of society and the economy.”