Three Labour Cllrs call for rejection of Oscar Traynor Road deal

Ahead of this evening’s Dublin City Council vote on the disposal of Oscar Traynor Road lands to private developer Glenveagh Properties, three Labour Dublin City Councillors say they are calling for the deal to be rejected.

The deal, which was roundly rejected by Dublin City Councillors twelve months ago, has since been renegotiated and will come before Councillors this evening.

While the tenure mix meets the demands of Councillors, questions remain surrounding the method of delivery—selling off of public land at a discounted price only to buy back the homes at market rate—and the actual future affordability of the homes on the site once developed, according to Cllrs. Kevin Donoghue (South East Inner City), Jane Horgan-Jones (Clontarf) and Darragh Moriarty (South West Inner City).

“We recognise the constraints placed on local authorities and local government across the country when it comes to the delivery of much-need public housing.

“Due to underfunding and elaborate public procurement processes, executives across local authorities have been left with little alternative but to try and bounce Councillors into marriages of inconvenience with private developers” says Cllr. Kevin Donoghue.

“We rejected this twelve months ago and we drew a line in the sand. Given the worsening housing supply and affordable housing crises, disposing of public land so private developers can get their slice won’t deliver the affordability we need and is simply no longer tenable.”

“The Oscar Traynor Road development needs to be Dublin City Council-led and represent value for money” says Cllr. Jane Horgan-Jones.

“At the moment, we’re looking at a situation where we are effectively laundering public land through a private developer, who will take a massive cut of taxpayer money and sell homes back to us, the local authority, and an Approved Housing Body (AHB), at market rate. This won’t deliver the affordability we need,” she continued.

“As was articulated forcefully at Labour Party Conference last weekend, only through direct state intervention can we adequately address our chronic shortage of social and affordable housing” says Cllr. Darragh Moriarty.

“The Land Development Agency was established with the exact purpose of developing these brownfield sites in public ownership and therefore, we should not be going with the begging bowl offering discounted land to private developers.

“I accept our desired tenure mix has been achieved and this is certainly welcome, but due to the method of delivery and the lack of value for money, we are calling on our fellow Councillors to join us in rejecting this deal.”