The decision by South Dublin councillors to sell-off publicly-owned land at Killinarden has been criticised by David Gardiner – Workers’ Party Palmerstown-Fonthill.Gardiner said:”In selling-off this land, the council has given away what could potentially be a full 620 units of publicly-owned and genuinely affordable housing.”
“The solution to the housing crisis isn’t building housing that people can’t afford and calling it a day. The solution is building universally-accessible public housing on public land.”
“The average price of so-called affordable housing in the Killinarden development will be €263,000, which isn’t much lower than the average price of a house nationally, which is €284,313 according to Daft.ie. People are struggling with the housing crisis throughout the country and this modest decrease isn’t likely to do much, apart from continuing to line the pockets of the developers.” “Some of the units will be left completely at the mercy of the private market, making them even more unaffordable to many working people, especially considering the fact that they’re here in Dublin.”
“Though many people would rightly expect Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and others to vote in favour of something like this, it may surprise some to know that a number of self-proclaimed independent councillors voted alongside the ruling group, while Sinn Féin councillors also refused to vote against it.””The Workers’ Party wants to see public housing on public land available to all working people. Like so many others, this development fails to provide it, and it fails to challenge the housing crisis.”
