Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My colleague Deputy Smith and I are here to represent and raise the concerns of the St. Michael's estate community. They have been waiting and waiting for the regeneration. As Deputy Smith said, they have been fighting for 21 years for the regeneration of St. Michael's estate. They need clarity. They need certainty that the regeneration will provide housing that is affordable for that community, that they will be able to access it, and that they will not be priced out of it. There is a huge concern that the cost rental segment will be set at a price linked to market rate rents. Market rents are crazy at this moment. They are wildly fluctuating and will do so into the future. Housing for All says cost rental is to deliver at least 25% below market rents. The community needs certainty that the rents will not be based on the market rent. They need certainty that the rents will be affordable and that they will be based on what is actually cost rental and not connected to market rents. We need that clarity for the community. The community needs clarity that whatever is built there will be accessible to the community.

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