Sinn Féin literature at the Houses of the Oireachtas printing facility
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Photo: Sam Boal /Collins
Sinn Féin literature at the Houses of the Oireachtas printing facility
Taxpayers are being asked to foot an estimated €25,000 bill so Sinn Féin can deliver a printed copy of its housing plan to every household in the country.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald promised that a copy of the party’s affordable homes plan would be sent to every household when she launched the document earlier this month.
However, Ms McDonald did not detail how Sinn Féin planned to deliver the plan to every household or how it would be paid for.
It has since emerged Sinn Féin TDs and senators have been using the Houses of the Oireachtas printing facility to print tens of thousands of copies of the plan.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Photo: Sam Boal /Collins
An Oireachtas source said Sinn Féin members have been requesting between 10,000 and 20,000 copies of the plan to be printed, with an estimated total cost for the printing of about €25,000.
Sinn Féin is not breaching Oireachtas printing rules, but other TDs said they have never witnessed a print request on the scale of that sought by the party.
“It’s absolutely against the spirit of the rules,” one TD said.
Another added: “I’ve never seen a party request that amount of printing.”
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “Sinn Féin TDs utilise Oireachtas print facilities to relay information to their constituents on a regular basis, similar to TDs from all other parties.”
The spokesperson did not respond to questions asking how many copies of the housing plan its party members sought to have printed.
Sinn Féin’s housing plan commits to spending €39bn to build 300,000 homes over the next five years. The majority of the homes would be built by private developers, but the party is also proposing a new form of affordable housing for private sale, which would involve a Sinn Féin government owning the land while a first-time buyer would own the property that is built on it.
Sinn Féin literature at the Houses of the Oireachtas printing facility
Sinn Féin said these properties would be sold to potential buyers for between €250,000 and €300,000, but could only be resold to other people accessing the scheme. The party also said it would establish a state-run construction company that would be responsible for directly building social housing.
Sinn Féin also said it would abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on new homes worth less than €450,000. It said it would phase out existing state supports for first-time buyers such as the Help to Buy scheme and the First Home shared equity scheme.
