Doolan criticises Housing Minister’s “bullyboy tactics”

Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan has said that Minister for Housing James Browne is trying to blame local authorities for his government’s failure to tackle the housing crisis.

On Monday, Minister Browne claimed that local authorities have “not moved quickly enough” to tackle the housing crisis (despite Ireland ranking in the bottom five in terms of powers afforded to local governments in Europe).

The Minister has warned councils that the government would intervene to tackle the housing crisis if they did not up the level of housing delivery.

He warned that Taoiseach Micheál Martin would contact local councils if they don’t rezone land at a pace the government considers acceptable.

Doolan criticised Browne’s “outburst,” remarking, “it shows just how desperate he is to deflect blame away from his own party in government. His threat yesterday that local authorities could be contacted by An Taoiseach if they do not rezone land quickly enough is an insult and totally unacceptable.”

“These bullyboy tactics are a sign of desperation. This government has normalised failure when it comes to housing. Minister Browne has failed miserably to deliver any solution to the housing crisis. The current housing crisis is a direct result of consecutive government failure to fund and resource councils to build council and affordable housing,” the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor said.

“Sinn Féin are fully aware of the housing challenges facing Dublin. We want to maximise housing delivery. We also want to make sure these housing estates and apartment blocks have recreational facilities, access to shops, transport and health centres. We should be building communities not just housing,” he noted.

To Doolan’s point, Sinn Féin are not in government in any of the 4 local authorities that govern Dublin, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in control on Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council.

Doolan said “I am concerned that the push to rezone land and increase planning permissions is simply a paper exercise to make this government look good. If the minister is sincere and wants to work with Dublin City Council to deliver more housing then he should provide enough staff, funding and resources to meet the challenge of delivering adequate housing to meet the needs of this city.

“If he was serious, Minister Browne could immediately reinstate the ban on no fault evictions, cut red tape surrounding public procurement, fully reinstate the Tenant In Situ scheme and fund Dublin City Council to buy land to deliver housing council and genuinely affordable housing,” he stated.