Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has called Leo Varadkar’s latest attack on Sinn Féin a desperate attempt to distract from Fine Gael’s affordable housing failures.

Teachta Ó Broin pointed to the fact that Fine Gael has not delivered any affordable homes via any central government scheme after a decade in power.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“Leo Varadkar’s latest attempt to distract from his government’s failure to deliver affordable homes is pathetic.

“Fine Gael have been in government now for ten years and no affordable homes have been delivered via any government scheme in this time.

“No affordable homes delivered in a decade. That is what Varadkar is desperately trying to distract from.

“He also clearly hasn’t read and doesn’t understand our scheme, nor does he understand how affordable housing is delivered.

“A Sinn Féin government would deliver thousands of affordable purchase homes for working people every year at an average price of €230,000 or less with no hidden shared equity charge.

“The purchaser owns the home and the property is theirs to alter, extend and pass on to your children.

“We want this home to remain permanently affordable and to achieve this the land will remain in public ownership and two conditions will be attached to the home buyer.

“The property can never be rented out on the private rented market, and it can never be sold on the open market at an unaffordable price. If the owner wants to sell the home, it must be sold back into the affordable housing scheme to another affordable purchaser at the future affordable housing price.

“Under Fine Gael’s plan, the buyer doesn’t own the home outright as the state has an equity share in the property and when the homeowner wants to sell the property, the state claws back the equity share, with added interest.

“From that point on, the property becomes another unaffordable open market property and no stock of genuinely affordable homes for working people builds up.

“Our housing system is broken. Affordability is a huge problem that is only getting worse. Maybe Varadkar should think about his own party’s failure in government before attacking a plan he quite clearly doesn’t understand.”