'Disingenuous' to say Government put €10bn in pockets of private landlords 

Simon Harris said the €10bn in question, spent on subsidies for renters such as the Housing Assistance Payment since 2011, had been paid with 'political consensus'

The Dáil debate stemmed from the leaking of a damning report regarding Ireland’s housing strategy.

The Taoiseach has dismissed as “disingenuous” allegations the Government has put €10bn in the pockets of private landlords, and argued there was already “a radical reset of housing policy under way”.

Simon Harris said the €10bn in question, spent on subsidies for renters such as the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap) since 2011, had been paid with “political consensus”.

Answering questions in the Dáil from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Mr Harris said it was "disingenuous to talk about the €10bn figure” as “every single year you could paper the walls of Dáil Eireann with press releases and statements from Sinn Féin TDs asking us to increase the limits and asking us to spend more”.

“You ask how can we stand over €10bn because you know what, there was a political consensus in this House that we needed to take steps to help people in the here and now, and you lead the charge,” he told Ms McDonald.

The Sinn Féin leader countered she had spoken to one “young mother who is on Hap, two beautiful children, her rent is €2,500 and she doesn’t have a decent night’s sleep”.

“That’s what her situation is. You have spent €10bn keeping people in that situation that ought to have been spent on building affordable and social housing, but of course, that’s not the Fine Gael way,” she said.

The debate stemmed from the leaking of a damning report regarding Ireland’s housing strategy compiled by the Housing Commission, which was finally due to be published by the Government on Tuesday.

That report called for a “radical strategic reset” in the State’s housing policy, for rental subsidies to be reformed so they no longer comprise a long-term solution, and noted Ireland had “one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing, yet one of the poorest outcomes”.

It added the core issues in terms of Ireland’s current policy were "ineffective decision-making and reactive policy-making where risk aversion dominates".

Mr Harris defended the Government’s approach, however, saying a “radical reset of policy” was already under way.

“That’s why we have the Land Development Agency, why we have record social house building... why we have cost rental schemes, why we’re seeing 337 new homes commencing construction every working day of this year,” he said.

He said the Housing Commission report “definitely has some good ideas, but also some challenging ones”.

Separately, in terms of Ireland’s official recognition of the state of Palestine on Tuesday, Mr Harris said he was “proud to be Taoiseach in a country where there is political consensus” on the matter.

He said the Irish people had wished for that recognition, which is seen as a key facet internationally in terms of achieving a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.