Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is regularly the junior Ministers who answer.

The Government has missed all its targets on affordable housing. In the last election campaign, Deputy Darragh O'Brien promised 10,000 affordable homes a year. Last year, only 499 affordable purchase homes were delivered. When Social Democrats councillors on Dublin City Council proposed affordable housing zoning, it was rejected on the basis that there is no national legislation to back it up. When I introduced an amendment to the Planning and Development Bill so that there would be national legislation to back it up, the Government voted it down. Affordable housing zoning could be used to designate, for example, agricultural land when it becomes available for housing in order that it would be predominantly for affordable housing. It would stop windfall profits for land speculators and make housing more affordable. How can the Minister possibly oppose such a measure in the middle of a housing crisis?

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