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

As this Dáil comes to an end, I thank the staff. We might be banging our head off a brick wall with the Government, but we are always pushing at an open door with all the staff here.

Here is scandal that is illustrative of what Deputy Bríd Smith was talking about as to whose interests get prioritised in Irish society and why we have a housing crisis. For niche living in Dún Laoghaire in a facility built by a Celtic tiger developer for what was supposed to be 200 units for people to live in, people can book holiday accommodation on booking.com, a breach of the planning permission on which we have called for enforcement. It has been turned into a hotel. When we campaigned to get social and affordable housing on that site, we were ignored but a Celtic tiger developer is now charging more than €200 a night on booking.com. For that people get a fold-out bed in a room the size of a disability car parking space and shared facilities in the area. It is an absolute scandal. This is one of the people who helped crash this economy and leave us with the legacy of the housing crisis. Why has that been allowed to happen under this Government's remit? The same people who crashed this economy because of greed over property are doing it again on a site that should be providing accommodation that is affordable for ordinary working people in this country.

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