Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-19
============================================================

Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

With respect, the Tánaiste just dodged the complete question. The question I asked him was about affordability. He talked about the first home scheme, for example. He knows that if the typical home in Dublin is €500,000, the first home scheme does not even apply any more. You cannot get it for €500,000 or more. You cannot get it in Greystones or Bray for the median home because the prices are €575,000 and €550,000. Let us get back to the crux of the issue. The point I have made to the Tánaiste - the CSO has said this very clearly, and I am sure the Tánaiste does not dispute it - is that house prices have gone up €100,000 in four years alone. In the past year, they have gone up €32,000. Is the Government listening to young people? Is it listening to young people who are telling me or my colleagues that their lives are being put on hold and that they have lost a decade as a result of Government policies on housing? The social fabric is breaking down. Some people see no future here because of affordability issues. I am asking the Tánaiste what the Government is going to do about it. Where the Government is taking this situation is that house prices are rising, rising and rising. The policies of the Government, such as the policy it voted for last night - it had promised it would not do so - to allow vulture funds to bid against these same people who want to purchase their homes, are doing one thing only, and that is pushing up house prices. Answer me this: how can the Tánaiste stand over Government policies that have seen house prices increase by €100,000? Does he recognise the impact this is having on young people across this State?

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19