Medical journalist June Shannon knows all about the realities of trying to buy your own home.
She has been renting in Dalkey in south Dublin for the last 16 years, and she and her husband pay €1,400 a month.
Adding childcare costs that were over €1,000 per month at one point, Ms Shannon says saving for a house is just not possible.
"If you look at it, our rent and €1,200 per month for childcare, by the time you pay the rent you can't save for a deposit - it's impossible to save."
Now aged 49, Ms Shannon says she is no longer frustrated at not being able to afford a house, she is now just worried.
"Ideally, we'd love to own our own home, but unfortunately our circumstances have meant we're not in a position to do that", she said.
"We got married and that was a time when most people buy a house, but we had difficulty conceiving so we had five years of fertility treatment at a cost of €21,000.
"The money we may have had for a deposit went on that treatment... Now I'm getting older and retirement is in 15 years, I'm thinking I won't be able to afford the rent when I'm on the pension.''
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Ms Shannon blames the current situation on years of poor policies.
"For me, I think our story is a sign of the failures of a number of policies by successive governments - lack of childcare support, no funding for fertility treatment."
She also challenges the notion that all first-time buyers are young.
"There are lots of people in this situation", she said. "The narrative is all first-time buyers are 25 to 30, living at home with their Mam and Dad, it's not true.
"There are lots of people in my age group, older, who are still renting without any security... I just know the problem with renting is that there is no security of tenure so every 12 months when the lease is up for renewal, you do feel that pit in your stomach."
Ms Shannon added that her landlord is "very, very decent".
She said her husband's salary has been impacted by the pandemic, and she has almost given up on looking to buy.
"I look outside of Dublin... we'd have to go way down the country... but even then, you still have to have a deposit saved and we'd have difficulty saving that."
With housing now back on the political agenda, Ms Shannon says it is a sense of Déjà vu, and she has heard the political back and forth all before.
"I find it tiresome because I remember the same situation years and years ago", she said. "There seems to be the same conversation over and over and over.
"I can't see an end to it to be honest. I've no confidence that it's going to be fixed in the five years. How can it be?"
Despite spending over €200,000 in rent throughout the years, Ms Shannon's prospect of owning her own home still seems some way off.
Read more:
House prices rose by fastest rate in two years in March - CSO
Government accused over 'weak response' to housing issue
Rents fall in Dublin, rise elsewhere - Daft report
