Housing crisis in Ireland take centre stage as voters head to polls

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00:00It's the same old tune. Housing, housing and housing. That's the refrain that's been dominating

00:08Ireland's election campaign. The country is going through an unprecedented housing shortage

00:13that's led to crippling rents at thousands of unhoused families and hidden homelessness.

00:18Well, I have four adult children living at home with me, so I have an axe to grind with

00:25the current government. I don't think they've done enough to deal with the housing problem.

00:31That current government is a coalition between two centre-right parties, Fine Gael and Fianna

00:35Fáil. Before that, they were rivals who took turns leading the country over a century.

00:41The main opposition party, left-wing Sinn Féin, says there's now a real alternative.

00:46It's now very, very clear that there can be government beyond Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil,

00:53but for the first time, we can have government led by Sinn Féin. It is a transformational

00:59opportunity. We are ready, we are good to go, and we will ask people again and again

01:04to give us that chance. The government parties say Sinn Féin is an

01:08unknown quantity, while painting themselves as a safe pair of hands.

01:12I'm making the point to the Irish people that Fine Gael can be trusted with the economy.

01:16Fine Gael has never bankrupt this country, and Fine Gael has a plan that is balanced

01:20and sensible, that will see us being able to do things to improve cost of living.

01:25Very clearly on the policy front, in terms of the economic model we have in this country,

01:29I think Sinn Féin would seriously undermine the enterprise economy we have.

01:35With the three large parties all hovering at around 20% in opinion polls, the election

01:40is too close to call. Under Ireland's voting system, the final result may not become clear

01:45for several days. Even then, the make-up of the government may not be obvious.

01:50After the last election in 2020, it took months of wrangling to form a coalition.

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