David Gardiner, Workers’ Party representative for Lucan, has criticised Fianna Fáil and Labour councillors on South Dublin County Council for voting with Fine Gael to sell-off public land in Kilcarbery, and has called for publicly-owned land to be used for public housing.

“It’s clear that Fianna Fáil and Labour jumped on the bandwagon last week by supporting the Raise The Roof rally for the sake of publicity,” said Gardiner. “And yet here we see councillors from both parties voting to sell-off public land to private developers. I believe this site should be kept in the ownership of the council to build public housing.”

“When the time comes for a photo opportunity or a sound bite, Fianna Fáil and Labour are all for ending this crisis, but when they can actually make a difference by voting to keep public land, they come up short of it.”

Gardiner continued:

“There are roughly 8,000 people on the waiting list in South Dublin. Alongside that, the vast majority of people not on the list are also not able to afford to buy private housing. The Workers’ Party calls for public housing, with rent based on income, to be built on this site and others owned by the state. This would address the needs of both those on the waiting list, and those who aren’t on the list but can’t afford to buy.”

Gardiner concluded:

“So-called affordable housing isn’t the solution to this crisis. By Fine Gael’s definition, you’d have to earn double the average household income to be able to purchase “affordable housing.”

“We need to stop the sell-off of public land, and to make public housing available to all of those who need it and want it.”