Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said Sinn Féin’s housing policy would “crucify” first-time buyers.
The Tánaiste told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show that homeownership was a “key” issue for Fianna Fáil.
“That’s why we’re saying to young people who are looking to buy houses, we will keep the Help To Buy scheme going until 2030. That enables you to plan properly and that support will be available to you and the First Home Bridge the Gap scheme – that also will be available to you until 2030.
“Young people are saving, they’re trying to get the deposit and they need to know these things. Sinn Féin are saying they’d get rid of those things, which I think would crucify first-time buyers.”
Sinn Féin’s policies would create “too much uncertainty, disruption and delay” in the housing market, he added.
Mr Martin said that Fianna Fáil would use “the Apple money” for water infrastructure to enable more houses to be built more quickly.
“Water connections are important and wastewater treatment plants are important. Investment in the energy grid as well, investment in housing itself as well through the Land Development Agency.
“We’ve already given €1.2 billion in the last budget and we will ramp that up over the next number of years. I believe there has to be a consistent level of social housing built in this country on an annual basis.
“This year, we will deliver 12,000 social homes - made up of over 8,000 new builds and the rest through acquisition. Where we want to get to is about 12,000 per annum new-build social houses and do that on an annual basis.
“That will deal with the social housing waiting lists and also take the pressure off the private sector.”
Parties across the political spectrum have been laying out their plans to deal with the housing crisis, one of the main election battlegrounds.
The outgoing government has defended its record on housing by arguing that it had ramped up supply, overseeing the construction of 125,000 new homes since entering power.
Opposition parties have blamed the government for house prices rising out of reach of young workers. The Social Democrats have calculated they have risen by some €85,000 since 2020.
Two schemes for first-time buyers which aim to make housing more affordable have also been criticised as inflationary by the opposition.
Fine Gael have said they would extend the Help to Buy scheme, which offers grants of up to €30,000 to buy a new-build home worth up to €500,000, to €40,000.
It also pledged to expand the First Home scheme to second-hand homes, which sees the Government and bank pay up to 30 per cent of the cost of a first-time buyer’s home.
The coalition parties agreed targets to deliver an average of 50,500 homes per year over the period from 2025 – ultimately reaching approximately 60,000 in 2030.
