Bertie’s housing plan a betrayal of the citizen
Why is the land not sold and the money used to build the houses?
The daft barter deal is an admission of the Government's inability to handle the infrastructural needs of the country.
In the first nine months of last year, only 684 affordable houses were completed, while an extra 102 were completed under the Planning and Developments Act.
This represents merely 0.88% of the national house build, and the Government's target as set out in the affordable housing programme was five times this figure.
The state is being defrauded of the real worth of the property, the citizenry robbed under the guise of conventional piety.
We all know there are thousands of families in need of housing, unable to afford to buy their own homes no matter how hard they work and save a situation that is a tribute to this Government's vast, arrogant incompetence. This deal does not give them the house they deserve.
In a precedent so dangerous it cannot go unchallenged, the Government is removing this deal from the normal tried and trusted channels, from accountability and from the public service.
The Government has created an independent, unaccountable nine-person committee to negotiate with some of Ireland's shrewdest business people.
This is madness and will jeopardise future negotiation in affordable state housing. It is another example of their inability to make decisions in the best interests of the people.
Instead of working towards the greater good the Government has been moving at snail's pace, creating a need for emergency stop-gap projects instead of solving the problem.
Senator John Paul Phelan
Fine Gael Seanad Spokesman on Finance
Smithstown
Tullagher
Co Kilkenny
