Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The reality is that this was never an ask. It was an offer made by the Department of Defence and included in all the documentation that existed around the development of the site until the Minister's Government took over. It was an offer. If we are talking about being disingenuous, it is disingenuous to say the site was offered in its entirety to the local authority.

It was only offered in its entirety provided that the local authority could undertake a social housing development on the site, which was not the appropriate development for the entirety of the site. Nor was it something that the local authority had the money to do. It is patently ridiculous to suggest that the purchaser of the site should give ten acres to the community as well as meet all the other requirements that would be placed on the developer under the local area plan, when it was the Department of Defence, on behalf of the State, that made the offer in the first instance.

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