Varadkar stands over remarks on parents helping pay for deposit
■ ‘It happens every day in Middle Ireland,’ he says
LEO VARADKAR has defended his remark that househunters can “get money from their parents” for a deposit saying it “happens every day in Middle Ireland”.
The Taoiseach received widespread criticism for his comment, with Opposition politicians describing him as a “posh boy” who doesn’t live in the real world.
However yesterday he stood over his remarks about the different ways young people raise money for a deposit for their first home, saying many of them receive money from their parents.
Mr Varadkar said he did not receive any money from his parents for a deposit as he got a 100pc mortgage for his home in Dublin’s Castleknock.
“Raising money for a deposit can be really hard especially if you have other bills like rent or childcare,” he said.
“So, lots of people get help from their family when raising a deposit for their first home.”
The Taoiseach said in some cases this might mean getting a site in a rural area or others may inherit “a bit of money from an elderly relative”.
“There’s nothing wrong with any of it, it’s not a mark of privilege. It’s what’s happens every day in Middle Ireland.
“But I also realise that’s not an option for lots of people who are trying to secure a home, and that’s why the Government is working so hard on this matter every day,” he added. However his latest comments were met with more criticism.
President of the University of Students Ireland (USI) Michael Kerrigan said Mr Varadkar was “out of touch with reality and issues in society”.
“Most people can’t go to parents for help, work abroad or move back in with parents,” Mr Kerrigan added.
“The Taoiseach isn’t listening to the problems. There should be solutions.
“For the majority, they don’t have wealthy parents. The Government should be fixing the housing crisis.”
John Douglas, general secretary of the Mandate trade union, said Mr Varadkar had made “disgraceful comments in relation to parents paying their children’s mortgage deposits”.
“Parents of children engaged in low-paid work should not be expected to pay for a housing crisis created by successive governments,” he added.
Mandate’s members – mostly in the retail and bar trades – earn between €20,000 to €30,000 a year, on average.
This means they could only obtain a mortgage of between €70,000 to €105,000 due to the Central Bank’s mortgage lending restriction of three-anda-half times a person’s salary.
Michael Kinsella, an estate agent in Gorey, Co Wexford, said Mr Varadkar’s comments were “unfair” and a large number of buyers were looking for cheaper housing options in Wexford and commuter-belt areas.
David Hall, from the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, said the Taoiseach’s comments were symbolic of a “masterclass in Fine Gael spin”.
Meanwhile, Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit said his remarks were “indicative of just how completely out of touch he is with the lives of the majority of people in this country whose families can just about pay the bills”.
“That’s the fantasy of a very wealthy minority in this country,” he said of the suggestion that the ‘bank of mum and dad’ might step in to supply the money for a deposit for their children.
“Huge numbers of mums and dads in this country are worried about whether they will have a pension to sustain them in their old age, never mind have tens of thousands of euro to hand over to their kids,” he said.
He said the Government needs to “get real” about the financial situation facing younger and older generations.