Eoin Ó Broin has warned that Fianna Fáil is 'repeating the mistakes' of the Celtic Tiger with the Government's planned new housing scheme.
The Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson is among those opposing the Government's affordable housing strategy.
The shared equity scheme would see the Government taking on a stake of up to 30% in a house where purchasers can’t afford the full mortgage.
It would be available to first-time buyer purchasing homes costing up to €400,000, but with different price caps in different areas.
Last week, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien claimed left-wing criticism of the plan was 'bordering on hysterical'.
On The Pat Kenny Show, however, Deputy Ó Broin said the one thing he can't be accused of is being hysterical when it comes to discussing housing.
He said: “The concern here is that the shared equity loan scheme is not about making homes more affordable.
"In fact, this scheme was designed by two property industry lobby groups last year - I know because they did a round of meetings with housing spokespeople, myself included, to argue for this scheme.”
Deputy Ó Broin said the scheme is based on a very similar one that has been in place in England and Wales for the last decade.
However, he said academic research shows that scheme has actually pushed up house prices in high-demand areas.
He also said the experience from the UK shows it's 'very hard to unwind' the schemes when they're on the statue books.
'It should be scrapped'
Sinn Féin is putting forward a motion to scrap the scheme, and to instead divert the funding into the "direct delivery of good-quality affordable homes".
Deputy Ó Broin noted it's not just opposition politicians opposing the scheme - citing concerns raised by the likes of the ESRI, Central Bank and the Institute of Professional Valuers and Auctioneers.
He said: “This is a developer-led scheme - this is bad, Celtic Tiger era housing policy and should be scrapped.
“This is just the worst kind of developer-led policy and when we know we can build and sell homes for €250,000 or less… why would you even contemplate such a risky scheme, other than to appease your friends in the developer and investor industry?"
He said people who avail of the scheme could owe a 'substantial' amount of debt if they don't pay down their loan early, due to rising interest rates over the course of the loan term.
He also pointed to a previous shared-ownership scheme introduced at the end of the Celtic Tiger, saying around half of people who availed of the scheme ended up experiencing 'significant mortgage distress'.
