Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government
Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
11:30 am
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I brought to public attention the Robin Hill apartments, which to my mind demonstrate everything that is going wrong with policy. NAMA sat on 15 empty units in this development for a number of years. The council tried to obtain those units from NAMA but it was refused them. NAMA sold the development to Cerberus, people are now being evicted and the 15 units remain vacant. Also, the purchaser is bypassing rent control legislation under the guise of refurbishment and it is exploiting other loopholes. Is the Minister aware of this situation, which has been well publicised? I previously asked the former Minister, Deputy Coveney, to look into it directly. Is anything being done to obtain these 15 units and to stop the eviction of tenants from properties that were NAMA-owned and later sold to vulture funds? Also, is the recently concluded sale of Project Gem, comprising the sale of €3 billion of assets by NAMA, in which there may be multiple Robin Hill examples, being examined? I appeal to the Minister to re-examine the Project Gem sale, and to look into the Robin Hill issue.
On the social mix housing provision, the Minister's response is not satisfactory. There is an inconsistency in the Government's stated view that it supports social mix while at the same time it provides in legislation that only 10% of a private development must be social housing while on public land the public provides 66%. The public is being shafted under the guise of so-called social mix. There is no consistency in it. I do not know how the Minister can justify that inconsistency.
The site of the former Shanganah prison was originally earmarked for 100% social housing but now 66% of it is to be given away.