TWO “SOLID, DECENT incomes are no longer enough” to afford to buy a home, the Dáil has heard.

Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty asked how Tánaiste Simon Harris can “stand over” rising house prices.

During Leaders’ Questions this afternoon, Doherty referenced recent Central Statistics Office findings that the median price of a home in Dublin has reached half a million euro.

“You repeatedly tell us that prices are too high, yet they’re rising higher and higher year after year,” Doherty told Harris.

“Under your Government, in just four years alone, prices have jumped by €100,000 across the state.

“And how can you stand over this? To buy a typical home in Dublin now requires an income of over €100,000.”

He added: “There’s parts in this city where people need incomes above €150,000 to purchase a typical home.

“The vast majority of workers are nowhere near that type of level.

“Even two solid, decent incomes are no longer enough.

“So how is anyone going to live in Dublin? How is a nurse? How is a garda or a young teacher to build a life here?”

‘House prices are too high for too many’, Tánaiste says

Harris said “house prices are too high for too many” but added that the median figure did not represent a “typical house” in Dublin.

“Anyone who searches online will see many homes available in Dublin for below 500,000 euro,” Harris said.

He added that several metrics show “progress” in housing supply.

Doherty said young people have seen their “future taken from them” and have “lost a decade” when compared to their parents.

“They feel locked out. Not because they failed, but because the system has failed them.”

Harris said Doherty had failed to reference the CSO findings that more than 50,000 homes were purchased in 2025, a year-on-year increase that includes almost 20,000 first-time buyers.

“Supply is the key to all of this, because we’ve got to continue every single day to see what more we can do to increase the number of homes.

“And there are some positive signs which, again, aren’t often acknowledged.

“We’re now seeing 600 first-time buyers every week drawing down their mortgages. That used to be 500.

“We’re seeing more than 60,000 applicants having availed from the Help to Buy scheme, and over 9,000 home buyers have been approved to use the First Home Scheme.

“And I reference that, Ceann Comhairle, because of course that reduces the headline price, because it actually ensures that people can actually benefit from cash, through the Help to Buy and from an equity share in relation to the First Home.”

Meanwhile, the latest figures show 2,046 homes were commenced in January this year, a 73% increase compared with the same month in 2025.

Local Authority Home Loan changes announced for first-time buyers

Separately, the Housing Minister James Browne announced today that there will be significant enhancements to the Local Authority Home Loan and the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan.

The government is increasing both the maximum eligible property prices and the income thresholds for applicants applying for the State-backed mortgage.

Both loans support first-time buyers and fresh start applicants who are unable to get sufficient finance from commercial banks to buy a home or buy and renovate a vacant or derelict property that is eligible for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.

Since February 2018 over 4,300 people have managed to buy their own home through the Local Authority Home Loan and its predecessor the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan.

The changes will come into effect in Q2 2026. The new house price limits for all local authority areas are:

• €415,000 –  an increase from €360,000 for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, South Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Kildare and Wicklow
• €375,000 – increase from €330,000 for Galway City, Cork City, Meath and Cork County
• €345,000 – increase from €300,000 for Clare, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford, Westmeath and Wexford and an increase from €330,000 for Galway County and Louth
• €310,000 – increase from €275,000 for Carlow, Cavan, Donegal, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Tipperary.

Meanwhile the increased income limit for all single applicants in each local authority area rise from €70,000 to €80,000. Joint applicants’ income limit will remain at its current level of €85,000.

The Local Authority Home Loan offer two fixed interest rate products at 4% fixed for up to 25 years (APR 4.07%) and 4.05% fixed for up to 30 years (APR 4.13%).