Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The slogan "public homes on public land" should mean using all public land for public homes. In the case of Killinarden, even setting aside for a moment the unaffordability of the so-called affordable homes, 400 of those 500 homes will be sold by the developer for whatever price the developer wants for private profit. Does the Minister agree with that and, if not, will he halt the sale of the land? The scale of the housing crisis is such that a one-bedroom apartment in Exchange Hall in Tallaght has gone up for rent for €1,700 per month. The situation is absolutely out of control. The private market will not deliver what is needed and it will not resolve this crisis. The only answer is significant public investment in the building of public housing. The solution is to make public housing available for all as opposed to continuing to provide the opportunity for private developers to profit from the crisis that exists in housing. If the Minister is not willing to give a commitment that he will not privatise any public land, then what he is saying is just empty sloganeering.

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