Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There were many apartments built in that area, in respect of which we faced many battles. The issue of rent supplement and people being left long term in rented accommodation will not be resolved by councils rejecting planning permissions every day of the week. That is the problem now. I will give an example. Three blocks of flats at St. Theresa's Gardens have been redeveloped to accommodate people until such time as new homes have been constructed for them. A similar proposal was made in relation to O'Devaney Gardens but it was rejected at city council level by way of a motion put forward by the Lord Mayor of the city, which is an absolute scandal. We should be ashamed of ourselves.