It has had an exceptionally turbulent few weeks, but as the election campaign picks up pace Sinn Féin is trying to keep the public's attention focused on housing, believing this is where it can pick up votes.
As political leaders flesh out their plans to the electorate, the distinctions between Sinn Féin and the two big Government parties are becoming clearer.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are placing strong emphasis on two major housing schemes, which Mary Lou McDonald wants to scrap.
The Help to Buy scheme allows first time buyers to reclaim up to €30,000 in income tax and use it for deposit, and the First Homes scheme sees the State take a shareholding in a home which reduces the amount homebuyers pay up front.
Help to Buy is popular and has had almost 120,000 applications since its inception in 2017.
But Ms Lou McDonald yesterday stood by her commitment to wind it down by 2029.
"I want to acknowledge that people who want to purchase a home have baked in that money into their calculations," she told a press conference.
"And of course we are not going to up-end that. And that’s why we are saying we are going to phase out the scheme."
Her party is committed to shut the First Homes scheme to new applicants, if elected to government.
The party argues both schemes inflate house prices at a time when property costs are accelerating rapidly.
The Government commissioned consultants Mazars to assess Help to Buy and in 2022 it concluded it was not value for money, benefited the well-off more and cost more than originally planned.
But Mazars also acknowledged it could be difficult to dismantle.
The Economic and Social Research Institute has also raised concerns about the First Homes initiative.
Mary Lou McDonald said: "Schemes like that are not the answer."
Sinn Féin also wants to scrap stamp duty for homes up to €450,000, introduce a three-year rent freeze and speed up planning decisions.
Its plans would see 370,000 homes built by the end of 2030, compared to Fine Gael’s target of 300,000.
Perhaps the most radical part of Sinn Féin’s plan is reshaping the Affordable Homes scheme.
This initiative allows a local authority to take a stake in a property, so in effect the purchaser is buying at a discount.
Sinn Féin’s Spokesman on Housing Eoin Ó Broin argues prices in the current Government’s Affordable Homes scheme are too high.
To address that he proposes separating the cost of land from the price of building homes.
Under the Sinn Féin plan, a buyer would only purchase the home but not land underneath it.
If the homeowner wishes to sell, only buyers who are eligible for the Affordable Homes scheme could buy it.
So, the pool of available purchasers could be limited, which could affect the price.
In a sense it would set up a secondary property market.
But the benefit, according to Sinn Féin, is that it could keep affordable homes between €250,000 to €300,000.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have suggested banks may not lend for such a scheme, a claim Mr Ó Broin disputes.
