26 County General Election 2020

[weareros]

He is tight that FF simply aren't credible and want us to forget history. But the notion that FG made no mistakes is mindnumbingly stupid

Plenty of mistakes although some like water charges were unpopular choices. We do need in my opinion to pay for water, and many do down the country (farmers and those in rural water schemes). But the free stuff brigade are loud. Yes broadband and children's hospital are astronomical cost but will be essential to our future. There's no inexpensive way to do rural broadband and those talking about 5G don't realise how much that will cost and requires transmitters every 500 feet. Good luck with that. They left the economy in far better shape than they found it and it's ironic that Boris got a landslide for his poor Brexit deal that sliced off North and Leo and Coveney who achieved what is essentially the closest we've ever come to an all-island economy will be sent packing to the cheers of the British right and the Irish left (and look underneath and you won't see much difference between that lot).

This shit spin is why Leo will be P45d in 2 weeks

Not spin - as a parent with a child who needed specialised care, this hospital is worth any money for future Irish parents who will need it. The future of work will see many working from home so broadband will be essential. I can still get 15mbps in rural Roscommon so don't see why those types of speed can't be given to rest of rural Ireland. There was lots of things in the past that were seen as a great waste of money that are now seen as good decisions. Knock Airport for example.

I am not arguing against the need for a childrens hospital.

The argument is the fact its the 6th most expensive building ever built and easily three times more expensive than the second most expensive hospital, which was a full campus.

And I'm saying it and broadband will be money well spent despite the final costs because there's a value there that will serve future generations. I wish we overspent on our rail service back in the day instead of being cheap and pulling up lines and closing stations. Such investments pay off in long term.

[five points]

And I'm saying it and broadband will be money well spent despite the final costs because there's a value there that will serve future generations. I wish we overspent on our rail service back in the day instead of being cheap and pulling up lines and closing stations. Such investments pay off in long term.

My fear about the broadband is that they'll end up spending a lot of public money on marginal upgrades in areas that already have decent broadband while continuing to ignore blackspots. Local FG guy told me on Facebook when it was launched that my area would be near the top of the list, but our broadband is actually good enough and has recently enough been upgraded.

And we did overspend, ridiculously, on the railways back in the day. Most of that money was lost. The decision to shut them all down came over a half a century later when ordinary people started buying cars.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Demand (in Dublin) is currently largely decoupled from price by the existence of landlords (and I obviously include REITs in that).

Remove landlords and price will be much more directly a function of population headcount.

I have no idea what your point is here. The relationship between price and demand is one of the cornerstones of economics. A landlord who owns 5 or 500 houses doesn't live in all of them. The numbers of people accommodated in them should be more or less the same regardless of how the property is owned. In fact, due to houseshares, its probably arguable that more people per unit are accommodated in an average rental property than in an owner-occupied one. But the difference is neither here nor there.

Landlords have greater purchasing power than renters looking to save for a house.

It is landlords competing with each other to buy more property that is pushing prices up.

Its fairly simple.

Demand for a house due to the need for shelter is not the same as demand for a house due to a want for an investment.

It is the latter that is doing (or has done) much of the damage for prices.


How can rent prices be significantly higher than mortgage prices? Because those renting simply cannot save enough to buy! The landlords have their property "portfolio" and are pulling the ladder up swiftly behind them.

That's all a direct consequence of high rents caused by demand caused by shortage of properties..

No indeed it is not.

If you have a house on the market, and several investors are interested in it as well as several buy-to-live in; which do you think has the most purchasing power to buy it?


Yes, the govt needs to dramatically increase the number of apartments/houses available - but they also need to kick buy-to-let firmly into the bin. Be they foreign or indigenous investors - the cost of owning and renting a house should be utterly obscene in order to force folks to sell up. So what if it causes a bit of a collapse back in house prices - the longer term benefits far outweigh the transients.

[armaghniac]

How can rent prices be significantly higher than mortgage prices?

Because there are not enough landlords renting houses?

[seafoid]

It's a problem caused by the moratorium on social housing,  ultra low interest rates and the free for all enjoyed by property speculators. It's a structural problem and it won't be fixed in a pleasant way for property owners.

[RadioGAAGAA]

How can rent prices be significantly higher than mortgage prices?

Because there are not enough landlords renting houses?

Because people can't afford the mortgage deposit.

Otherwise they'd buy that very house they are renting and pay off the mortgage on it instead.

[RadioGAAGAA]

It's a problem caused by the moratorium on social housing,  ultra low interest rates and the free for all enjoyed by property speculators. It's a structural problem and it won't be fixed in a pleasant way for property owners.

Indeed. There needs to be a bit of a rinsing unfortunately - but it'd be better for everyone in the long run.

[five points]

It's a problem caused by the moratorium on social housing,  ultra low interest rates and the free for all enjoyed by property speculators. It's a structural problem and it won't be fixed in a pleasant way for property owners.

Indeed. There needs to be a bit of a rinsing unfortunately - but it'd be better for everyone in the long run.

Be careful what you wish for. "Rinsings" rarely end well, least of all those at the bottom of the heap.  The 2008 one for example.

[mrdeeds]

Mary Lou saying very little tonight and so wins the debate for me.

[five points]

How can rent prices be significantly higher than mortgage prices?

Because there are not enough landlords renting houses?

Because people can't afford the mortgage deposit.

Otherwise they'd buy that very house they are renting and pay off the mortgage on it instead.

The high number of twenty-something foreign-born workers renting apartments in the Dublin docklands have no interest in buying homes in Dublin. Nor have thousands of young Irish workers of the same age group.Getting rid of landlords means getting rid of these people.

[Farrandeelin]

Mary Lou saying very little tonight and so wins the debate for me.

And when she does speak, she wins hands down.

[marty34]

Mary Lou saying very little tonight and so wins the debate for me.

And when she does speak, she wins hands down.

Ivan Yates ruined the debate from the start - all about him.

[Itchy]

Mary Lou saying very little tonight and so wins the debate for me.

And when she does speak, she wins hands down.

Ivan Yates ruined the debate from the start - all about him.

How does an ex FG TD get to host a debate and then shouts at everyone for an hour. A joke.

[Itchy]

Mary Lou saying very little tonight and so wins the debate for me.

And when she does speak, she wins hands down.

Even the TV3 panel afterwards begrudgingly said as much. The more I look at Michael Martin I want to grab everyone and Ireland and scream "NO", as bad as Leo is that guy is just a useless w**ker. Talking about border counties he never set foot in for more than 30 minutes, last week saying "people coming down here...." referring to Ulstermen. No plan for a border poll. Some republican he is.

[five points]

It's a problem caused by the moratorium on social housing,  ultra low interest rates and the free for all enjoyed by property speculators. It's a structural problem and it won't be fixed in a pleasant way for property owners.

It's not a moratorium. State social housing is a thing of the past. It worked fine when a council could build for £20k a unit and slip a tradesman a few bob in cash to do the snag list. Now at €250k a pop and with all bells and whistles of regulation, it's beyond unaffordable.

I wish it were otherwise and like you I'll gladly support the deregulation of the building industry to make social housing happen again, but I'm afraid the clocks aren't turning back anytime soon.