DUBLIN, Ireland: The Taoiseach has defended a video shared by the Department of Housing advising young people on how to cope with moving back in with their parents.
It comes after Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, said he thought the video was "tone-deaf" and satirical, and had been posted by Waterford Whispers.
The video features two young people offering tips such as setting house rules, paying rent, doing chores, and managing potential conflicts while living at home.
Ó Broin told RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland: "The number of young people moving back home has doubled over the last decade to its highest level in some time because the government's housing policy is pushing up house prices, pushing up rents, pushing up homelessness, while at the same time failing to deliver social and affordable homes."
He said the idea that the very people responsible for the rise in young adults—now not only in their 20s but also in their 30s—being forced to live at home would then give advice about household chores and setting boundaries "is just going to anger people."
He noted that responses to the social media video he posted showed both young people and adults were furious, arguing that the government should focus on delivering more social and affordable housing instead of lecturing young people on how to cope with being forced to move back in with their parents.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the video aims to highlight the broader challenges facing young people in the housing market.
He said that at times one needed to avoid knee-jerk reactions to genuine initiatives by organizations such as the Housing Agency and to look at them in a broader context.
"The big issue is to provide more housing as fast as we possibly can, and that's what we are doing."
Sinn Féin's Ó Broin said he was not criticizing the "real young people" featured in the video.
He was instead criticizing the government and the department. The Department of Housing and the Minister for Housing are responsible for delivering homes, and they have failed to do so for a decade. As a result, more young people are emigrating, living at home, or being forced into homelessness.
"Let's be very clear, my criticism is absolutely not of organisations like SpunOut or any youth organisation that seeks to mitigate the negative impacts of government policy.
"But when you see that video on the Department of Housing's website, it's almost like the person who sets fire to your house then hands you a bucket of water to put out that fire."
