Leo shows true colours in ‘parents for money’ mortgage bombshell
SEVEN months into his Taoiseach tenure Leo Varadkar was looking more teflon than Bertie at a tribunal. Nothing negative stuck to him as the suave, canny Fine Gael man batted off tricky media and parliamentary questions with trademark nonchalance.
Then, on Tuesday last, he dropped a class splitting word-bomb in the Dáil by saying some people will have to resort to going cap in hand to their parents for a few ten thousand euros to go towards a deposit for what, in all likelihood, will be a small house.
When he took over from Enda Kenny aged 38, (the youngest ever national Taoiseach), I, like many, was optimistic. My father would shoot me for saying this but I thought Enda Kenny steered the national ship well, even if he lacked the media nous and charisma that many demanded of him. Mr Kenny spoke at the time of how Mr Varadkar represented a ‘modern, diverse and inclusive Ireland’.
We are, today, in a lot better place than we were in 2011, for instance, when pay cuts were raining down on our homes, businesses, villages towns and cities.
Then Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said: ‘For a gay man, for the son of a migrant, to be elected Taoiseach of this country is an important step.’
On Tuesday responding to questions from Mr Howlin on people faced with the ‘ hopeless task’ of gathering significant deposits Mr Varadkar said: ‘Sometimes people go abroad for a period and earn money. Others get money from their parents. Lots of us did. Others get money through other loans. Sometimes people stay at home for a period and raise a deposit in that way,’ he added.
The Fine Gael leader said that the only time in history people were not faced with the need to gather significant amounts was during the boom when 100 per cent mort- gages were available, adding that this was not something he wished to return to. The son of Indian immigrants, Mr Varadkar and his coterie of Class of 2007 ministers, are the new breed of politician propping up across Ireland. Smooth as newly minted €2 coins and sharp as €100 notes, the shiny, polished palaver they spout at launches is a million miles ahead of the off-the-cuff ‘isn’t it gas we’re here and getting the expenses and free hang sangwiches’ crowd that preceded them, (with some exceptions).
Mr Varadkar naively said that getting money from parents is one of several avenues open to people looking to gather a housing deposit, saying ‘ lots of us did’. I, as one of the million plus who didn’t, can categorically, (and a little enviously), say that Mammy and Daddy (who had five to feed) were never in a position to help out with a mortgage, college, the annual clothes shop etc once I passed the 18 mark etc.
Some youths growing up in homes where incomes are higher can rely on their parents for financial support for weddings, college or house purchases. Good for them. The problem is that today, in post-recession Ireland, I can think of several friends who cannot afford a deposit for a house because of the prohibitive deposit required. These include first time and second time buyers who were burned by sky-high interest rates in the past. The lack of joined-up thinking is staggering for if these people in their thirties and forties can stop renting, buy a house and move in, it frees up badly needed homes for other people, including the 8,000 plus on social housing lists in counties Wicklow and Wexford.
The Taoiseach’s comments were naive. As a New Year resolutin I would suggest he give Bertie a call.