Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will explain how this is operating in Dublin City Council, which is the pilot for every other council, including my own local council, about which I will speak in a minute. Under the Dublin City Council land initiative, 50% of properties will be privately owned, 20% will be rented out privately and just 30% will be social housing.

That is absolutely scandalous. To be clear on the rented properties, the developer will be allowed to rent those houses to people at what will effectively be market rates or a little under them.

The Minister has stated this is not gifting but in the case of the land initiative in Dublin City Council, we can consider what is happening with O'Devaney Gardens and St. Michael's estate, where all or part of the lands will be sold for development rather than kept in public ownership. That will come at a much lower price than those developers would otherwise pay. For example, it works out that a developer could get his or her hands on land at the O'Devaney site at approximately €24,000 per unit. Developers are getting sites at a knock-down price and meanwhile, people who need public housing are being pushed out.

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