Opposition parties continue to block housing by opposing construction of 1,592 apartments – Cummins

Opposition parties claim they can solve the housing crisis yet are against increasing housing supply with 1,592 new apartments in Dublin, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald’s opposition against the project on the grounds of Clonliffe College in the capital is the latest in Sinn Féin’s series of housing objections; the party have objected to almost 6,000 houses in one form or another in Dublin in the past three years alone.

Senator John Cummins, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Housing in the Seanad, said, “The leader of Sinn Féin believes increasing housing supply, by building 1,592 apartments, would somehow make our current housing crisis worse – what sort of warped logic is that?

“The Clonliffe College project represents an investment of €602m in Dublin’s North Inner City. While I, of course, respect people’s right to object to developments, it galls me to see the likes of Deputies Gary Gannon and Mary Lou McDonald openly oppose housing developments while, at the same time, claim their parties in Government would solve the housing crisis.

“One of the few matters people agree on with regard to the housing crisis is that one of the most significant issues is supply. The DAFT Rental Report Q3 2021 published today makes for stark reading in terms of our current housing supply; rental supply is extremely low nationally, while there are only 820 rental properties available in Dublin.

“The Clonliffe College project alone contains almost double the number of properties that are currently available in Dublin. But regardless of the impact over 1,500 new homes would have on the local community, we see opposition parties once again opposing the building of real homes that would help real people.

“Every housing unit, whether for owner-occupiers or people to rent, has a positive effect on resolving the housing crisis. It has a circular effect. If individuals move into a build-to-rent apartment from having lived in a shared house, that house will be freed up for a family to move into and that has a positive impact.

“By now, we’ve heard all the excuses from the opposition; the developments are supposedly too high, too large, too small; they’re in the wrong place; there are too many private units. The list is endless.

“When are politicians going to stand up, acknowledge there is a housing crisis, and not just diagnose the problem but rather do something about it and support housing developments, even when that is the unpopular approach?

“We need politicians who are for housing in practice, and not just in theory,” Senator Cummins concluded.