FG petition on house grant signed by 70,000

Fine Gael has collected 70,000 signatures over the past two weeks as part of its "Give It Back" campaign to have the first-time…

Fine Gael has collected 70,000 signatures over the past two weeks as part of its "Give It Back" campaign to have the first-time house-buyers grant reinstated.

Mr Bernard Allen TD, the party's environment and local government spokesman, said the Government had "robbed many people of the right to own their own home".

He said the huge response showed people want the either grant to be reinstated or mortgage relief to be doubled for the first five years of their loans.

House prices have risen by 79 per cent, rents have doubled and Local Authority waiting lists have almost doubled since the Government took power in 1997, he said.