Taoiseach admits to being worried for his children due to price of housing

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The newest addition to the list of people who have no hope regarding the state of housing in Ireland is the leader of the country, a recent piece in the Examiner reveals.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin has admitted he worries about the impact the housing crisis will have on his own children, as well as the current generation of young people in Ireland as a whole.

Speaking to journalists as part of an interview during his recent tour of Asia, Mr Martin said he does “of course” worry about his children’s ability to buy a home:

I don’t want to personalise things, but I do of course. The price of houses is shockingly high for young couples. That’s why we’re bringing in new affordable schemes. I just saw the ones in Boherboy in Cork which are a very, very keen price. We just have to do it on a far greater scale.

And I worry about younger people general, the capacity to live in cities that they’re born in is becoming less and less of a possibility.

Mr Martin added that: “In Ireland, we always had that sense that if you got a job, you got work that over time you will be able to sustain a mortgage. The pricing and the percentage of income has to go. It is too high”. 

Home ownership rates in Ireland have declined since the last crash, with young people in particular affected. A recent ESRI study estimated that 65% of those currently aged 35-44 are likely to become homeowners by retirement age, compared to 90% of those currently aged 65+.

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