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Micheál Martin has also said he wants to expand the First Home Scheme.
In an interview with The Journal yesterday, he said increasing the Help-to-Buy grant to get money into the hands of people who are renting or buying homes might also be a consideration.
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Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD called the proposals “reckless”, stating that they will “turbocharge house prices and rents”.
Sinn Féin’s housing policy includes scrapping the Help-to-Buy grants and First Home scheme, which the the Fianna Fáil leader has said will “crucify” first-time buyers.
Ó Broin said Fianna Fáil’s manifesto proposals will result in ever-rising house prices and rents, leading to more and more people being locked out of affordable housing.
“Extending the controversial Shared Equity Scheme will not only add to house prices but saddle working people with increasing levels of high risk debt.
“Increasing the rent tax credit without banning rent increases, as Sinn Féin proposed, will mean the money will go straight into the landlord’s pocket. Indeed, it will likely fuel even higher rents,” he said.
The housing spokesperson said the Sinn Féin’s housing plan can bring affordable home ownership back into reach of working people, while reducing council waiting lists and ending homelessness.
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“On the basis of what Micheál Martin has outlined today, another five years of Fianna Fáil in charge of housing will actually make things much much worse, with higher rents, higher house prices, rising homelessness and under delivery of social and affordable homes,” he added.
Aside from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, Labour launched it’s housing policy today which outlined that it will phase out the Help to Buy scheme over time by 2029 and develop a more income-targeted Save to Buy scheme for the purchase of new homes with income limits on the tax refund available.
Labour said it will phase out the First Home Scheme from 2026 in favour of affordable housing provided through local authorities and the new State Construction Company
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Use tax payers money to allow people pay more money to developers and landlords, people will fall for it and FFG will get votes for it. It’s like giving everyone 10k to buy an electric car, prices will all go up 10k, car dealers will all make 10k more, the tax payer will pay for it instead of hiring more surgeons and nurses to operate on children’s spinal issues
@Paul M Doe: I’ve no issue with landlords or developers, essential part of any country . I just think the govt deliberately doing something with taxpayers money which will fuel inflation is ridiculous. It’s a bit like if they increased the taxes on landlords and developers to give it to the open to pay for more bike sheds.
SF have the magic calculator out again, like last week with the free prescription and 40,000 doctors or whatever, if they do a remake of Wanderly Wagon, Sinn Fein would be the cast
@Alex: Oh look, it’s the Journals resident economics expert..lol. Vote away lad.. thats your perogative.. and I’m grand here thanks.. in my own country.. the country l helped build.. I’ve contributed more in tax to this country than you have contributed bs comments to the Journal.. and that’s a lot ! Funny, you want people who disagree with your political views to leave the country.. you’re a pillar of democracy all the same..
@H Woo: Claire Kerrane will be deporting a lot of her immigrant buddies back to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland. All will be grand
@Brian: shinners never built anything, they only know destruction, just look at that Kip to the border- all SFs doing. Muslim Mary couldn’t run a bath lol
@Lefty Cries: do you not get tired, ??? your comments would actually encourage people to vote sinn fein. Cause if this is the calibre of the other party’s and how low they stoop. How much do trolls get paid these days.
@Alex: they get taxed on the capital not the interest, also landlords can write off repairs, and new goods or services put into the property.
So not actually 52% now is it.
How ? Getting landlords tax compliant is part of this….and if the landlord is not registered with the RTB can still gain the tax relief, once they essentially tell them where they live.
@Seanfhear míshásta: Doesn’t benefit everyone but it does benefit people in rent pressure zones who are already renters. Their rent is set and can only go up 2%
@Paul M Doe: It’s unbelievable they have another pedo jailed. Anybody that votes for SF is a disgrace to children and their safety. Absolutely disgusting and dangerous party.
@Trump24: how am I going to pay for petrol in my local filling station if SF get into government or the Green Party for that matter, Audis don’t run on fresh air
@Lefty Cries: Are you implying that other brands of automobiles do run on fresh air. Or did you think we’d all be impressed because you drive an Audi chavwagon.
@Paul M Doe: my children safety, is down to my good parenting skills, not a political party, ask the 4000 homeless kids, and the poor child no one noticed was missing for two years, or the disabled child abused in foster care. All under ffgreen watch
A Chairde. Get out and Vote. Men and women of Ireland fought and died for your freedom and right to vote. Honour those that sacrificed all, while having nothing. Today you have it all, think of those left behind and with nothing. Be kind, be generous, be proudly Irish.
@Michael Collins: you were a truly great man, if you hadn’t been shot dead, Ireland would have been a better place for men, women and children. Instead we gave it to Fianna Fail and the Catholic Church, and we still have the misery and scars
@Michael Collins: Arthur and you were forced into going to London, while the weasel went to New York, we owe you and Arthur our freedom to achieve freedom
@Lefty Cries: I’m glad too, glad that the great sacrifices of many Irish, earned you the freedom, to not be judged for your needs, while you hypocritically and traitorously judge others.
@Lefty Cries: Yes, you do now indeed have the freedom to be wrong as well as traitorous.. hard won freedoms… back in the day we didn’t even have the freedom to exist.
@Paul M Doe: secretively you fancy Eoin or pearse. Tell the truth, or is it Simon, with his boyish good looks. Or ml mc you like the dominant mammy figure.
Good to see that SF are in favour of foreign born criminals being allowed to stay in Ireland, this will ensure that there will continue to be massive pressure on housing indefinitely. We have seen who the silent majority in the US voted for and one of the main reasons was immigration, if any of our mainstream parties opposed the levels (specifically IPA’s who have arrived here from other countries) we are seeing then they would be a shoe-in.
@The next small thing: The left and other crash the economy parties are under the illusion that an influx of immigrants will help them overthrow our government but people arriving in Ireland are fleeing leftist failed states with socialist politics. They will support what works not any Marxist rubbish.
All I see here are people shaking their fists at the sky, in short dont rely on the government for anything especially housing & healthcare. Work hard, sacrifice, get qualified, never stop education, make good decisions and for most people you won’t need to worry about elections.
@Brian D’Arcy: Taxes guarantees nothing. just coz we pay taxes don’t expect that you live under the sultan of Brunei, all I’m saying don’t rely on the government, get ahead of it and sort it yourself, don’t put your family at risk.
Here’s a crazy suggestion, stop giving HAP like cereal, no HAP for anyone except pensioners and the disabled. If you gave a child and gave a full time job you can get a lot of money from the local council. That’s playing the landlord’s game, they just hike up the rent because they know daddy government will top it up too. The minute HAP is removed, housing crisis or not, the rents will decrease, why? There are only so many doctors and engineers making enough to pay an exorbitant rent without HAP, all others, even single parents won’t be able to afford it, bidding ywar? For a few places but not blood most, blue collar Ireland can’t pay these prices.
The landlords will have no choice but to lower their rents or sell
@Paul O’Mahoney: it’ll be a game of chicken but the government have to be serious, think about it, landlords rely on HAP, without them people simply won’t be able to rent, people will have to go back to their parents, foreigners would have to go back, but the thing is that this may last a couple of months if any, once they see that it’s game over land people can’t afford it, they’ll have to lower their rents or no one will vacate these properties
@J Ven: I don’t think HAP is the real problem. It’s the social housing as well.
Look at the numbers of the, supposedly, “single mums”.
It pretty easy, from my impression, to abuse the system.
Lets see:
Single mum\parent, living with the parents = high on the social housing list. How come?
The “single parents” is abuse right and left, because nobody, especially the government, can or wants to control it (how?).
You could go back decades and some SW worker stops by and is checking your home.
I don’t think HAP is the issue, but how to control\check it.
Same with any other SW payment.
I’m sure there are plenty genuine SW recipients and they deserve all the support they can get.
Abusing the system is just too easy and with little power by the government, by law.
@Wolfgang Bonow: Leo tried the early riser &hit and it back fired on him. Sw is not the problem, nor is lone parents,
It’s a lack of government policies I this area. When do you read sw de frauded. Very few headline stories. But sheds huts hospitals they are were the real criminals are. From the companies who build them, to panning and design.
To politicians and councillors who sign off. They are the real criminals.
Council and Corporation houses should only be for Irish people. Not for anyone that rocks up. Secondly stop foreign investment funds bulk buying houses Thirdly only allow one house per family unit until crisis is sorted, ie no holiday homes.
@Dan Murphy: Why shouldn’t people have a holiday home? They keep the economy going in both places. Investment funds should be paying 52% tax as some are saying landlords pay.
There are many reason people have a holiday home, it could be a old family home.
Do my eyes deceive me? One of the major parties finally calling out reckless welfare handouts to those who don’t need it? One of the major parties actually understanding that throwing money at a problem and subsidising it only causes the prices to go up? I don’t know whether Sinn Fein had a change of heart or if they are just doing this to appeal precisely to fiscal penny-pinchers like myself, but the fact that even one party is calling out this reckless use of taxpayer money is a relief. The next step for Sinn Fein is to call for the abolishing of rent control and zoning laws, but I won’t get my hopes up.
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