Tánaiste stands over ‘grass looks greener’ comments but admits Dublin rents may be worst in Europe

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar was sharply criticised in the Dáil over comments he made that young people emigrating could encounter the same problems abroad as at home.

Social Democrats joint leader Catherine Murphy told the Tánaiste that “you really don’t know what you are talking about”, following his comments that the grass is not always greener abroad in relation to housing.

She said five people quoted in one newspaper about living abroad said they were “stunned” at Mr Varadkar’s “ill-informed” remarks because they had much cheaper accommodation abroad.

The Tánaiste said he was not challenging people’s experience abroad and acknowledged that different individuals were in different situations.

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He accepted that on rental costs “we compare unfavourably with most other European capital cities, perhaps all”.

But he held to his view that housing was a problem in many countries and he pointed out that housing was more expensive in New York and Sydney.

In an interview on Newstalk’s On the Record with Gavan Reilly on Sunday, Mr Varadkar said “you’re not going to find that rents are lower in New York or that it’s easier to buy a house in Sydney. Sometimes the grass looks greener”.

Ms Murphy said Ireland had the highest housing costs in the EU at 85.5 per cent above the average and higher than Paris and Rome. She added young people were angered and stunned by the Tánaiste’s remarks.

Among those to take issue with Mr Varadkar’s comments this week was a letter-writer to The Irish Times on Wednesday who said, on recently moving from Brussels to Dublin, his rent jumped from €500 a month with bills included to €650-€700 a month excluding bills, renting at a less central location here with higher commuting costs.

Ms Murphy pointed to an article in Thursday’s Irish Independent quoting one person whose living costs had halved in Barcelona, while a student who moved to the Netherlands was paying €365 a month sharing a house.

The Kildare North TD said Mr Varadkar’s remarks had angered people and she asked him to withdrawn his comments.

Ms Murphy said she expected a lot of people to attend the Raise the Roof rally in Dublin on Saturday because people have “lost hope”.

She claimed that the Government’s housing policy was “a failure by every metric” with a fall in mortgage approvals.

But the Tánaiste insisted that some metrics are going in the right direction on housing with more than 2,000 mortgage approvals in the last month.

He added that wanted Housing for All to be implemented faster and it was the Taoiseach’s role to co-ordinate the Government’s response, a role he will take over again in December.

Mr Varadkar’s comments on radio came in the context of a wider discussion on emigration trends. “It is not the case that more Irish people are leaving Ireland than are coming home. More Irish citizens are coming home,” he said on Sunday.

“When people actually get into the reality of going abroad, if you are going to another busy city or successful country, you will see a lot of the same problems.”