Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last Saturday I marched with the communities of Sandymount, Ringsend and Irishtown on Pearse Street because of the fear of the loss of social and affordable units within them. Last week there was an announcement that the 40 housing units to be provided in the South Lotts Road area, which is in a strategic development zone, SDZ, were to be provided instead in Rialto. The units were to be part of the community gain from the SDZ covered under Part V of the legislation. Following on from the media coverage of the issue, it was announced by senior officials at Dublin City Council that there would be no social housing in Dublin 2, Dublin 4 or Dublin 6 without a special case being made for it.Another senior official said there would be no affordable housing in Dublin 2, Dublin 4 or Dublin 6. The best they can expect is to build them out in the suburbs. This has led to fears, which I can understand, that the 350 social units promised for the strategic development zone in Poolbeg West will not be delivered, never mind the 550 affordable and affordable rental homes promised by the then Minister, Deputy Coveney.

The deposits have been paid on the sites in the strategic development zone, SDZ, in Poolbeg West and on the Poolbeg Peninsula. Some €30 million has been set aside for a bridge over the River Dodder to give access to the Poolbeg West development site. The taxpayers paid for the decontamination of the site and there is a blank cheque from the Department for the plinth that has to be put in place but which is, so far, uncosted.

It is unacceptable for senior city council officials to say there will be no social or affordable housing in these areas and to be left unchallenged by the Department. The previous Minister, Deputy Coveney, gave a firm commitment to the delivery of 900 units and this is written into the strategic development zone plan that is before An Bord Pleanála at the moment. Fine Gael has been saying that the housing crisis can only be solved by delivery but we know there is a strong lobby for going higher. I do not necessarily have a problem with height or density but there are three strategic development zones in the Docklands - the North Lotts, the South Lotts and Poolbeg West. There is speculation that building on the North Lotts will go higher. The Minister needs to take note of the fact that strategic development zones have clear objectives and integrated planning schemes. If one goes higher in one location one has to do the same for all developments in that location and if one increases commercial development, one also has to increase residential, and vice versa. With the height strategy outlined by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, the Government is running the risk of undermining the three strategic development zones. The outcome will be that over 5,000 units in this city will be delayed.

I am not sure if the Government has the competence to manage this issue. All I see in the attempts to increase the supply of housing is mistake after mistake. There have been three delays in supply, all caused by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. These were the change in apartment sizes, the change in car parking spaces and the change relating to the height strategy. All led to further planning applications, even though developments of over 100 units can go straight to An Bord Pleanála. There has been delay after delay with applications being withdrawn.