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

I beg to differ. I think it is precisely ideological. I will give the Minister an example. The site of the former prison at Shanganagh Castle in Shankill is owned by the council. Some 550 units can be built there. In the past, 550 council houses would have been built there. As a result of the Minister's proposals, some 180 council houses will be built and the other houses will be designated as affordable housing and affordable rental, whatever they are. It is clear that it is a public-private partnership. I understand that the same thing has happened at Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock. It is happening all over the place. At the same time that a site where 550 council units would once have been built is being developed in a way that will give us just 180 council units, the NAMA development at the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club site, which would have given us 320 social units if the 20% rule had been in play, is giving us just 160 social units as a result of the Minister's decision to reduce the 20% requirement to 10%. The private developers are gaining everywhere. They are gaining on the private developments and they are now gaining on public land. People on the list are asking why 550 units were not provided, instead of 180, which is what they are going to get under the Minister's plan.

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