Sinn Féin’s "slogans" and “anger” on housing would not help anyone actually buy a house, Fine Gael Minister Simon Harris has said. 

Speaking on The Anton Savage Show today, the Higher Education Minister said he thinks the next general election is going to be “really exciting”. 

“There's going to be a genuine choice on offer for the people,” he said. 

“A choice between the centre holding and a centrist government staying in power and a populist government.” 

Mr Harris said the current Government are “exceeding” their housing targets and 500 people are buying new homes in Ireland every week. 

“There are now more houses built this year than any time in the last decade,” he said. 

'What is the plan?'

While housing remains a “major challenge” in this country, the Fine Gael minister said Sinn Féin have not genuinely offered solutions to that challenge. 

“I did listen to Deputy [Mary Lou] McDonald’s Ard Fheis speech last night, where she said multiple times ‘We have a plan, we have plan on this, we have a plan on that’,” Mr Harris said. 

“At some point, heaven forbid, people will start saying, ‘Well, what is the plan?’. 

'The opposition is threadbare'

The Higher Education Minister said any part in Government will face the same constraints “in terms of supply, in terms of construction, in terms of construction inflation”. 

“There will be a moment in time where people don’t just ask what the current Government is doing, they’ll also ask what the alternative is,” he said. 

“Drill down through it – they will realise a slogan or a tweet or anger is not going to help my son or daughter buy a house. 

“That's where I'm really looking forward to getting to – we'll see the opposition is a bit threadbare.” 

Mr Harris recently said on Twitter he would not enter any Government with Sinn Féin if he was chosen to be a minister following the next election. 

No.

— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) November 11, 2023

Mr Harris said Fine Gael’s position on Sinn Féin has been “extraordinarily clear”. 

“I have yet to meet any Fine Gael member who wishes to go into Government with Sinn Féin,” he said. 

“Fine Gael and Sinn Féin are chalk-and-cheese when it comes to policy position and that’s okay. 

“I'm sure there are many people in Sinn Féin who don’t want to go into government with Fine Gael – that's a healthy thing in a democracy.” 

Ms McDonald also said this weekend that a Government led by Sinn Féin without Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil is the “best outcome” for Ireland

Defamation suit

Mr Harris had also tweeted critique of Sinn Féin for a current defamation suit against The Irish Times.

He told the show it’s “particularly chilling” for a politician to sue an individual journalist rather than a news company. 

“We're all in politics, we’re all big boys and big girls, things get written about us - sometimes we like them, more often than not we don’t. 

“If this is a party that wishes to be in Government, you have to be ready for a bit of scrutiny.” 

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