Miriam Lord: Dublin Bay South gears up for the battle of the barristers Senior counsel Jim O’Callaghan has his work cut out to get an FF candidate over the line
about 3 hours ago
Senior counsel and TD Jim O’Callaghan will have to abandon his listening tour of the shires and return to the capital now he has been appointed Fianna Fáil’s director of elections for the barristers’ bumper byelection in Dublin Bay South. Local councillors Claire O’Connor and Deirdre Conroy, both lawyers, are seeking the party nomination.
Last June, O’Callaghan selflessly turned down the offer of a junior counsel, sorry, junior ministerial position in Micheál Martin’s Government to concentrate on “strengthening our great party” and attracting new members by putting himself about all over the country as one of Fianna Fáil’s “strong voices” outside government.
Political Correspondent
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that institutional investors purchasing large portions of housing estates is unacceptable and runs counter to the Government s aim to give priority to first time buyers .
The Taoiseach told the Dáil that he discussed the issue with the Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure and Housing after investors made large purchases in estates in counties Dublin and Kildare over the weekend.
He was replying to Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy, who said there was an urgency about the matter as the country was reaching the point of no return .
She said the international investors were being advantaged by the Government because they were not subject to stamp duty or corporation tax.
However, the caps were immediately attacked by the Opposition as making the houses anything but affordable.
âThe Government is living on another planet if it thinks â¬450,000 for a home in Dublin â and â¬400,000 in Cork and Galway â is affordable. It simply is not,â said Cian OâCallaghan of the Social Democrats.
Cost-rental scheme
The Bill also includes proposals for a cost-rental scheme and a requirement that all new housing developments include 10 per cent affordable housing in addition to 10 per cent social housing.
Every provision in the Bill has been fiercely contested, particularly its provisions for shared equity. Opposition parties have claimed it will push up the prices of new houses.
Shared equity scheme will drive up house prices, says Opposition Houses subject to price cap of €500k in Dublin City and €450k in Dún Laoghaire
about 4 hours ago
Harry McGee Political Correspondent Listen now 5:15
First-time buyers can also avail of the existing Help-to-Buy Scheme which gives tax relief up to 10 per cent of the property’s value (to a maximum of €30,000)
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The Government’s new shared equity scheme for affordable housing proposes a price cap of €500,000 on apartments, and €450,000 on houses, in Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire.
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Labour lights a fire under housing minister: Reintroduce your own Bill on cuckoo funds or we will
Labour housing spokesperson Rebecca Moynihan said in a video this afternoon that she will re-introduce his Bill “word for word”. By Christina Finn Wednesday 5 May 2021, 8:11 PM 4 hours ago 19,872 Views 36 Comments
Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan says the government must act urgently.
Image: @RebeccaMo
Image: @RebeccaMo
Updated 2 hours ago
LABOUR HAS MOVED to light a fire under the Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien by calling on him to reintroduce his own 2019 Bill to block cuckoo funds from buying up housing developments.
If the minister doesn’t resurrect it himself as a matter of urgency, Labour said it will.