Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not. There is a link between this amendment and some of the others that I have tabled. My problem with it is that there is too much reliance on the private sector generally in the Government's approach to dealing with the housing crisis. This Bill is the working out of that logic, in that it asserts that the only way we will get the social and affordable housing that we need is by constantly incentivising, getting down on our knees and begging private developers to provide it for us. I do not agree with this approach. It will not deliver the volume of social and affordable housing that we need.

My concerns in this regard are increased by the fact that the Government is going to provide a further large get-out clause on the 10%, in that developers can lease property back to local authorities, which is a matter that subsequent amendments will address. The combined effect of these two provisions is to let developers off the hook completely, leaving local authorities with nothing. They will not get 20% or even 10%, but 10% leased back, which means that they will get nothing. I do not agree with the logic behind these provisions.