Reports highlight risks facing 3,000 homes planned for Poolbeg

Two more reports have thrown into doubt claims by central and local government that lands in the south-east corner of Dublin can be used in the speedy delivery of new homes to soothe the national housing crisis.

With great fanfare last month, Dublin City Council said the authorisation by Simon Coveney, the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government, to designate the Poolbeg West lands a strategic development zone (SDZ) would fast-track the development of 3,000 homes across 34 hectares, or 84 acres, that comprise the SDZ.

Preparations would be underway by the end of this year, the city council said. The Irish Examiner last week highlighted a report by a senior inspector at the Environmental Protection Agency on the potential for methane emissions still existing at the so-called Irish Glass Bottle site.