I will let the Deputy come back with his response later and maybe he will put on the record what his councillors did in Fingal-----
On prevailing side: this member voted with the winning side in 1,054 of 1,062 decisive votes (4 abstentions excluded). Read it as a government-or-opposition indicator rather than a measure of influence — the figure is near 100% for members supporting the government of the day and near 0% for those opposing it.
This is the point of the site: contributions keep the party held on the day, not the one held now.
| Party | Recorded as | Contributions | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| FF | Fianna Fáil | 3,415 | 2020-03-26 – 2026-10-01 |
Membership spells on record: FF 2007-05-24–2011-02-01 · FF 2011-03-04–2011-04-25 · FF 2011-05-25–2016-04-24 · FF 2016-03-10–2020-01-14 · FF 2020-02-08–2024-11-08 · FF 2024-11-29–present
I will let the Deputy come back with his response later and maybe he will put on the record what his councillors did in Fingal-----
-----with regard to Ballymastone or Deputy Ó Snodaigh's reason to object to 208 social and affordable homes-----
Let us deal with some of the facts now. The Deputy knows numerous initiatives are under way. I might disappoint him and colleagues opposite to know we will exceed targets. We will deliver more social homes this year than we did last year and significantly more affordable home than we did last year.
A Cheann Comhairle, I am trying to-----
Thank you, Ceann Comhairle. I will turn to the area of vacancy, which is very important. I will come back to housing delivery as well. We are seeing significant measures being taken to bring vacant stock back into use both through our local authorities, AHBs and allowing individuals and families to be able to take vacant stock and get it back into use, turn it around and own those homes. That is the Croí Cónaithe vacancy and derelict grant. There is €70,000 for derelict properties and €50,000 for those which are va…
It is 100% correct.
Sinn Féin's alternative budget made no provision for the continuation-----
It is not too difficult to read the party's alternative budget. In its 52 pages, its apparent priority area of housing has three pages. It states it is a fully costed, detailed plan.
If that is a detailed plan and an alternative to Housing for All, I would hate to see if the Deputy was doing something on a cursory basis. Three pages out of 52. I think people deserve a little more. They will ask a lot more of Sinn Féin on its alternatives.
It is very difficult sometimes for the Deputies opposite to hear the truth and even to listen to contrary voices or a different opinion and maybe they would respect that. I know they do not respect that in their own party-----
-----but I expect that if I am given an opportunity-----
Every single time the Deputy tables a motion here and if I go to respond, all he and the choir behind him can do is continue to interrupt and stop me from speaking but the figures do not lie. Many challenges remain but there has been progress and by the end of this year, we will have delivered more than 100,000 new homes since we came into government. There has been a step-change in delivery in social and affordable housing. Let us talk about homeownership. Deputy O'Reilly might hide her head because there is anoth…
-----actually wants to abolish the help-to-buy grant.
Again, in their constituency clinics, wherever they are held-----
-----they should let their constituents know that the tax they have earned that has been given back to them to help with their deposits would be abolished by their party, even though that support that has helped 42,500 people. I was only in Skerries on Monday, in her own home town, where she was able to buy a home pretty handily.
This is a bit of a farce here now.
Let us deal with first-time buyers supports. The help-to-buy grant is provided for next year as well. There is an extension to 2025. The first home scheme, which the party opposite has opposed, has nearly 7,000 registrations. A total of 2,800 families and households who are eligible and are buying their homes through the scheme. It is a real intervention that is supporting homeownership. It is another support that inexplicably the Deputies opposite in the Sinn Féin party would actually abolish.
Ah, stop now. Behave yourself for once, will you?
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance comes in here and makes a two-minute contribution to say Sinn Féin supports homeownership. Sinn Féin is opposing the help-to-buy grant, vacancy grants to bring vacant stock back into use so people can buy and own houses and do them up and the first home scheme. All three of those schemes are working well and all three would be removed by Sinn Féin. Our budget is published. Our plan is published. In July this year, I understood Deputy Ó Broin to say he would publish his own hous…
Perhaps the Deputy misspoke.