The sky-high cost of new homes on the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Poolbeg, Dublin 4, will make it difficult, if not impossible, for agreement to be reached on the provision of affordable homes in the scheme, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is deeply concerning that no deal on the affordable housing element for phase one of this scheme, comprising the first 570 homes, has been reached between developers Pembroke Beach and Dublin City Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main sticking point in negotiations appears to be the indicative cost of these homes – \u20ac495,000 for a one-bed and \u20ac675,000 for a two bed. At these exorbitant prices, the homes in this development will be out of reach for most low to middle-earner \u2013 even if a discounted rate for the affordable element of the scheme is applied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need clarity on how much of the tab the State will end up picking up to subsidise so-called affordable homes in the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone \u2013 and how much profit the Pembroke Beach consortium will make from the sale of 3,800 apartments planned for the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a central tenet of the Social Democrats\u2019 Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023, which proposes introducing a requirement for property developers who are in receipt of State subsidies to publish annual financial statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation at Poolbeg once again highlights the sheer folly of the government relying on private developers for the delivery of affordable homes, which is not an efficient or cost-effective way of spending taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government\u2019s affordable housing delivery schemes are completely inadequate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost a third of the total affordable purchase figures for 2024 were not affordable housing units, with 1,349 representing the vacant property grant. In fact, just 779 actual affordable purchase homes were delivered by local authorities in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disgraceful that the new Minister for Housing has continued the misleading approach of his predecessor by massaging the housing delivery figures.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 12, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sky-high cost of new homes on the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Poolbeg, Dublin 4, will make it difficult, if not impossible, for agreement to be reached on the provision of affordable homes in the scheme, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said: \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n