Ryanair bulk-buying houses for staff is fine by me, says Taoiseach
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said he doesn’t have any issue with Ryanair or other companies buying up housing for staff.
He said there is a big difference between companies like Ryanair bulk-buying accommodation compared to investment funds.
Responding to criticism that 25 of the 28 units in a new development at Fosterstown Place in Swords, Co. Dublin, were purchased by the budget airline for its cabin crew, Mr Varadkar said: ‘I don’t think it is the worst thing that a company would buy accommodation for their staff.
‘It’s not the first time this has happened, it has been happening for centuries. I think it is different to an investment fund, for example, buying up houses that could be bought by families.
The Taoiseach was speaking in Athenry while opening the BIA Innovator campus, where €8million has been provided in funding to assist start-up, micro and small food businesses in three-state-of-the art buildings on the Teagasc complex.
US multinational Dexcom is building a €300million plant in the Co. Galway town with the creation of 1,000 jobs, and Mr Varadkar said these workers would also need housing and that some companies had been proactive in sourcing accommodation for generations. ‘A lot of the people who work for Ryanair are local people and they are people living around Swords and living around towns around the airport and some of them live in my own constituency,’ the Fine Gael leader said.
‘The fundamental thing we need to ensure is there is enough housing for everyone to buy. A huge amount of housing is being built in Swords, the Fingal area, affordable schemes, cost rental schemes, a lot of that coming through and what we need to do when it comes to housing is instead of having people fighting over the pie, it’s about making sure the pie is big enough for everyone.’
The Taoiseach also said that ‘one of the things I was delighted to see today was the number of first-time buyers drawing down their mortgage is at levels we have not seen since 2007’. He added: ‘I was in my 20s in 2007 so it’s great to see we are back to that stage again where so many people are able to buy their own homes.’
Regarding the overall housing situation, he said: ‘We are building over 30,000 new homes now every year. If you think about it, that’s 70,000, 80,000 or 90,000 bedrooms every year so we are finally seeing housing being built on scale.
‘We want to scale that up this year and next year as well because we do have a rising population and family sizes are getting smaller, so we need more housing and we are making progress.’
On Thursday, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan told the Dáil the Ryanair purchase was another ‘kick in the teeth’ for firsttime buyers.
He said: ‘It is already hard enough for people looking to get a place of their own when rents are at the highest ever level and house prices are 6% above their Celtic Tiger peak. It is no wonder there are over half a million adults stuck living in their childhood bedrooms.’ And he added: ‘What will happen to supply for first-time buyers if other large companies follow Ryanair’s example?’ However, Ryanair said: ‘In recent years the absence of affordable rental accommodation has been a major impediment to recruiting and training new Irish and European cabin crew members to Ryanair’s in-flight team.’ A spokesperson for the budget airline also said: ‘Ryanair confirms that it has purchased 25 new-build units in Fosterstown, Swords, in order to ensure that it can provide high-quality but affordable rentals close to Dublin Airport for new cabin crew who are joining Ryanair based in Dublin, to help us maintain Ryanair’s flight schedules for up to 33 Dublin aircraft. ‘This accommodation, which is located one bus stop from Dublin Airport, will be rented at affordable rates to Ryanair cabin crew during their first year of employment.’
‘Kick in the teeth’ for first-time buyers