Funding needed to secure 900 social homes on IGB site, says councillor

Dublin City Councillor, Kevin Donoghue is calling on the local authority to seek a meeting with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien in order to secure funding for 900 social homes at the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend.

The site is in the process of being purchased by Ronan Group Real Estate for €200m.

The previous council had reached an agreement that 900 of the 3,500 units the site can house would be handed over as social and affordable homes.

However, that deal is now at risk due to the high cost the land was purchased for.

“This site represents the single biggest opportunity to address the incredible demand for social and affordable housing in the area,” said Donoghue.

“It is incumbent on the council to be proactive in delivering them.”

Donoghue has submitted the request in the form of a motion to the council’s South-East area committee meeting next week.

It notes recent reports that the council and department of housing failed to come to an agreement on the purchase of the land.

The reports also note that council officials now consider the chance of developing affordable homes on the site as slim.

“The failure to purchase this land has made it more difficult and more expensive to deliver on this deal,” Donoghue says.

“However, the price paid by the community if we don’t is far higher than what the council or the state will pay to move this project forward.”

The previous council voted to lift the cap on units in the Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) in exchange for the assignment of social and affordable homes.

“Local activists and councillors worked very hard for this and engaged in good faith. Now that things are moving along, it is time for the Council and the Minister to move along with them,” he said.