FG minister claims that some Green members ‘openly hate private property and free enterprise’
A GREEN Party TD involved in government formation talks suggested Fine Gael TDs had a “personal interest” in keeping rents high because more than a third of them are landlords.
Neasa Hourigan said in a tweet posted in 2017 that “bias due to personal interest is definitely an issue” after referencing figures showing 36pc of Fine Gael’s TDs were landlords.
Fine Gael minister John Paul Phelan last night accused Ms Hourigan of “casting aspersions” on Fine Gael deputies and called on her to clarify the remarks from three years ago.
Mr Phelan told the Irish Independent that some Green Party members “openly hate private property and free enterprise”.
Ms Hourigan said in the Twitter post in July 2017: “Around 25pc of the Dáil are landlords but amongst Fine Gael TDs that goes up to 36pc. Bias due to personal interest is definitely an issue.”
Her tweet was in response to another Twitter user who said “we live in an era of greed” and those who own rental properties “want more money”.
Ms Hourigan is the Green Party’s finance spokesperson and part of its negotiating team that is involved in talks to form a government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. She was one of three members of the Green parliamentary party who voted against going into the talks earlier this month.
The figures she cited in her tweet are from the 2017 Dáil register of members’ interests which showed that 18 out of Fine Gael’s 50 TDs in the last Dáil had an income from renting out property or land. Figures for the current Dáil are not yet available.
Ms Hourigan, a newly elected TD for Dublin Central, did not respond to calls or texts yesterday. The Green Party press office did not respond to questions about whether Ms Hourigan’s views were shared by the party.
Mr Phelan, a Minister of State in the Department of Housing, said: “People say things all the time before an election and regret them afterwards when they are elected. I have no doubt Neasa now realises that casting aspersions on Fine Gael TDs was a mistake and I look forward to her clarifying that.”
He added: “Some in the Green Party seem to openly hate private property and free enterprise.”
The most recent Dáil register of interests lists Mr Phelan as a landlord with a 50pc share in a rental property in Rathmines.
Ms Hourigan, who is an architect by profession, has been a strong critic of Fine Gael housing policy in recent years, describing it as “madness”.
She recently shared a Twitter post by Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin where he criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s housing proposals in a letter to the Green Party which paved the way for government formation talks.
The emergence of her comments come as the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Greens talks are likely to focus on a new government’s housing policy this week.
The parties are at odds over the use of the Land Development Agency, which is favoured by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deliver social and affordable housing.
The Green Party wants a major State investment in the cost-rental housing model with public housing built on public land.
Fianna Fáil has already expressed reservations about this with the party keen to increase the levels of home-ownership in Ireland by focusing on building affordable housing for purchase.