Members of the opposition have criticised the government for pulling the plug on the Oliver Bond regeneration project.
Despite Taoiseach Micheál Martin visiting the area in 2020, and promising that the regeneration project would go ahead, the Department of Housing have now backtracked and claimed that the regeneration project does not “represent value for money.”
In 2020, Martin said that the government would work with Dublin City Council to “secure more resources for the area.”
As has become common since James Browne became Minister for Housing in January 2025, the Department of Housing has once again pulled rank on Dublin City Council.
Minister Browne has pledged to meet with locals following news of the government’s backtracking on the plan.
Local councillors and TDs have criticised the government for their u-turn, which would have regenerated the area.
The plan called for a reduction of 74 flats to 46 flats, with the idea of a “less is more” approach to redevelopment, where the existing houses were brought up to modern standards.
The Department of Housing claimed that taking nearly 30 flats off the market in the context of the housing crisis was “not acceptable.”
Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said, “despite the well-documented need for regeneration, this long-promised investment has now been withdrawn, leaving families without hope of improvement in their living conditions.”
“Residents in Oliver Bond flats have been living for years in unacceptable conditions, including severe overcrowding, damp, and mould,” the Dublin South Central TD said.
“This decision comes in the context of rising social housing rents imposed by Dublin City Council, a move that further compounds the hardship faced by tenants living in substandard homes,” she noted.
Cummins said she was “extremely disappointed and dismayed” by the Department’s decision.
“Everyone knows that the conditions in Oliver Bond flats are completely unacceptable – families are living in homes that are not fit for purpose. This has been going on for far too long, and to now revoke funding for regeneration is simply indefensible.”
Dublin City Council’s controversial decision to increase rents for council tenants is continuing to linger in the Dublin political ether.
The issue has become a major issue on the Northside in the context of the Dublin Central by-election, and Cummins said the decision to increase rents has gone down poorly in the South Inner City.
“To increase social housing rents while failing to provide safe and dignified living conditions is despicable. The people of the Oliver Bond community deserve better, and they deserve it now,” she said,
Cummins’ party colleague, South-West Inner City councillor Lesley Byrne, said the decision to pull funding was a “devastating blow to the community.”
Residents have been waiting years for meaningful action, and instead, they are asked to endure worsening conditions while facing increased rents. This is just wrong.
“The government must reverse this decision and commit to delivering the regeneration that residents so urgently need,” she said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the Department’s backtracking was a “betrayal.”
Speaking in the Dáil, McDonald said the situation is “absurd.”
“The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage blocked funding. Why? It was because some overcrowded flats were to be amalgamated to make them big enough for families to live in, because the government chose to keep them in small overcrowded flats.”
“Think about that; it is absurd, cruel and a betrayal of this community,” she said.
“The Taoiseach visited Oliver Bond flats in 2020, looked residents in the eye and promised regeneration. He must reverse this utterly disgraceful and disgusting decision and fully fund this project.”
Ciarán Ó Meachair has condemned the decision by the Department of Housing to refuse funding of Phase One of the Oliver Bond Regeneration.
Ó Meachair, who represents the South-West Inner-City area, which covers Oliver Bond House, has called on the Department to reverse the decision immediately.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair said “this decision by the Department is frankly, one of the most shameful they’ve made in living memory”.
“Residents in Oliver Bond live in some of the most horrific housing conditions in the state. Dampness and mould are rampant across the complex, causing terrible respiratory problems and other health issues. To turn around to these people and basically tell them to suck it up is cruel”.
Invoking the rent hikes, Ó Meachair said “these residents were landed with a rent hike only a few weeks ago; they are now expected to pay more to live surrounded by damp and mould with no end in sight”.
“Time and time again the state has shown they don’t care about the people who live in Oliver Bond,” he asserted.
“It’s incumbent on all public representatives of the area to stand with the community, and oppose the government on this.”
Green Party councillor called the decision “abhorrent.”
The South-West Inner City councillor said that following a meeting with residents on Wednesday afternoon, local residents were “evidently shocked” by the government’s decision.
“For decades, Oliver Bond has faced extreme problems. Things looked like they were going to change, with a visit from the Taoiseach Michéal Martin and real engagement from the last housing minister. But this decision has set everything back to square one,” he said.
Pidgeon criticised Minister Browne’s attitude and seeming apathy towards local residents.
The Green councillor explained that he was chair of the regeneration forum when James Browne was appointed as Minister for Housing in January 2025, and invited him to visit the flats.
He said that all the communication he received from his team was a simple acknowledgement of the email, with no further engagement.
When the new chair of the forum, former Chief Justice Frank Clarke, invited Minister Browne to visit once again, a similar, tepid response was received.
Pidgeon accused Minister Browne of being “rooted in ignorance” on how bad conditions in the flats really are.
“The Custom House is just down the quays from Oliver Bond – it’s time the minister came down and confronted the reality of his policy,” he said.
Minister Browne’s attitude towards Dublin City Council has been criticised by councillors since he took office last January.
Last year, the Northside People ran a series of articles detailing how decisions were made unilaterally by Minister Browne, without Dublin City Council members being informed.
The most infamous incident came last June, when Minister Browne cancelled 250 social housing units in Ballymun.
The decision was not voted on at a council meeting – council members had to find out via the media about the decision, including councillors from government parties.
Speaking at the time, Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne said the cancellation is a “serious blow” to tackling the housing crisis in Dublin.
“It’s a shocking intervention by the Minister; I really live in fear about how long these developments will be sitting there,” he said.
Since then, the Minister has been engaged in a cold war between his Department and Ireland’s largest local government, with council sources calling Browne’s behaviour “petty.”
Speaking at the time, local Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan “we want to roll up our sleeves and work with whatever government is in place to build homes for people who need it the most. They need to meet us. They need to stop working against us and work with us.”
The Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor has been among the most vocal critics of Minister Browne cutting funding for tenant-in-situ schemes, which have been directly linked with an increase in homeless figures in the capital.
Cutting funding for schemes which prevent people from entering homeless services is one thing, but backtracking on a promise made by the previous government, in one of the city’s poorest areas, is quite another.