Tánaiste accuses Sinn Féin of hypocrisy over construction firm donations

By Bairbre Holmes, PA

Simon Harris has accused Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson of being “a hypocrite” for saying the party is on “the side of the working people” after a group which raises money to aid Sinn Féin accepted donations from US construction firms.

In a heated exchange during Thursday’s Leaders’ Questions, Pearse Doherty accused the Taoiseach of prioritising landlords and developers and leaving renters “abandoned”, adding: “Rents are going up and you have no plan to fix it.”

Mr Harris responded: “There’s only one party in this house that is receiving very significant financial funding from builders and construction companies.”

He said the published accounts of the US branch of Friends of Sinn Féin showed the “bulk” of the €366,000 it received in donations came from “construction companies and builders”.

The single largest donation of $20,000 came from a construction company, Mr Harris said.

He added: “Mary Lou (McDonald) flies out to America to take the dollars from the big businesses, big builders.

“You are the party of big American companies.

“You are a hypocrite.”

His comments came after Mr Doherty criticised the Government’s record on housing.

He said rents have risen by 5 per cent across the country, including a jump of 16 per cent in Co Leitrim and 15 per cent in Co Carlow.

And he also said the average rent is now €20,000 a year nationally, but €27,000 a year in Dublin.

Mr Doherty claimed: “This is the direct result of Fine Gael’s approach to housing and to renters, letting the market run wild, protecting profits and abandoning ordinary people.”

Mr Harris accused him of “selectively” quoting from publications, saying the RTB’s latest report showed 62 per cent of properties had not seen a year-on-year rent increase.

And claimed Mr Doherty was “celebrating” his “15th anniversary as the opposition spokesperson in finance” because “the people of Ireland don’t trust you when it comes to the economy”.