Sinn Fein leader and Taoiseach clash over affordable housing scheme in Dublin

Taoiseach Simon Harris and Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald have clashed in the Dail over an affordable housing scheme in Dublin.

It comes after Dublin City Council agreed to meet Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien over the price of housing at Oscar Traynor Woods in Coolock.

Challenging the Taoiseach during leader’s questions, Ms McDonald said house prices are continuing to spiral beyond the reach of working people and pressed the need for affordable housing to be built.

She said the homes at Oscar Traynor Woods are being priced from 400,000 euro to 470,000 euro for a three-bedroom home, 335,000 euro to 427,000 euro for two-bedroom homes and 264,000 euro to 308,000 euro for one-bedroom homes.

She queried whether those prices are affordable and questioned the transfer to state-owned land.

“Taoiseach, you’ve gotten this one badly wrong, and the evidence is there to see in Coolock and in my own constituency in O’Devaney Gardens where the price of homes delivered through your scheme is expected to be even higher than those at Oscar Traynor,” she said.

“In both cases the promise was for affordable homes on these sites, but in truth the prices are so high that the vast, vast majority of local people will never have a chance to purchase these properties.”

Mr Harris warned against “conflating issues”, and said across Ireland the average affordable purchase house being delivered under government schemes is 267,000 euro.

“Prices at Oscar Traynor Woods start at 264,000 euro,” he said, describing houses in the government schemes as 19-21% lower than market prices.

“You suggest that there seems to be very little interest in this, but my understanding is that already there have been around 300 expressions of interest from members of the public looking to purchase these homes.”

He said in another affordable homes scheme in Co Waterford, prices start at 225,000 euro.

“This is a government that is working to deliver all forms of housing, including affordable homes, and it’s not fair to suggest that one set of homes and one set of prices is in any way reflective of the broader set of schemes and supports that are available right across this country,” he said.

“We are a government that is presiding over a scenario where now, over 300 homes every working day this year so far are being constructed, where 500 individuals or couples every week are buying their first home, where we’re seeing the highest number of homes built in 15 years, where we’re building the most social homes since the 1970s.

“We have much more to do when it comes to housing, that’s why we’ve approved a draft national housing framework today, that’s why we intend to lift the scale of our ambition with new housing targets set in the autumn.

“But when it comes to affordable houses, it’s not simply right to suggest that one set of homes and one set of figures is reflective of broader affordable housing.”