Leo Varadkar accuses Mary Lou McDonald of being the 'great misleader' on housing

Varadkar to McDonald: 'What you’re calling for us to do Deputy, is already well underway. It’s happening before your eyes if you care to open them'

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar accused Mary Lou McDonald of “putting words in my mouth” and hit out at her as the “great misleader”. File photo: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar accused Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of being the “great misleader” on housing, as students protest outside the Dáil over a lack of accommodation.

At Leaders’ Questions on Wednesday, Ms McDonald raised the protest by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), saying that students were “drowning in costs” and unable to find accommodation.

The protest, taking place outside Leinster House, is calling on the Government to abolish the student contribution fee and to use the current budget surplus to increase spending on student accommodation construction.

“Students feel that the accommodation crisis is robbing them of a future in Ireland,” Ms McDonald said, criticising the Government’s overall approach to housing policy.

“An entire generation locked out of affordable housing and home ownership, locked out of opportunity, locked out of a decent future.”  In particular, Ms McDonald said that the upcoming budget must prioritise students as well as increasing funding towards affordable housing.

Mr Varadkar said that “students would not be forgotten” in the upcoming budget, highlighting measures taken in the previous budget, like a once-off cut to student fees. However, he acknowledged that student accommodation is difficult to find at present, but said that the Government were investing in purpose-built student accommodation.

“What you’re calling for us to do Deputy, is already well underway. It’s happening before your eyes if you care to open them,” Mr Varadkar said.

“My eyes are wide open Taoiseach,” Ms McDonald said in response, adding that she believes Mr Varadkar does not see the problem.

“According to the Taoiseach it’s not a problem that you commute for hours and hours to the extent that your social life is totally broken and your mental and physical wellbeing is compromised,” Ms McDonald said.

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“According to the Taoiseach, it’s not a problem, it seems, that we are losing — again — a generation of talented, qualified people that we need here in this country to build Ireland.” 

However, Mr Varadkar accused Ms McDonald of “putting words in my mouth” and hit out at her as the “great misleader”.

“You are the great misleader, Deputy McDonald,” he said, to murmurs from the Sinn Féin and Opposition benches.

“Pushing this narrative that there is a mass one-way exodus of Irish citizens and Irish nationals and young people from our country. The truth is different Deputy,” Mr Varadkar said.

In particular, he criticised Ms McDonald for not highlighting the number of Irish nationals who return after moving abroad, citing the 90,000 people who returned in the last three years.

“Why will you never say that? Because you don’t want people to know the truth… you want to get your way into office by creating a false impression about our country.”