Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Rory Hearne (SD), Dublin North-West

We need to build affordable homes and not just roofs, because it is not just about shelter. I want to come back to the issue of profitability. There is an issue in relation to the profits being made. In some ways, the Government is being taken for a fool. I have great respect for Deputy Carrigy as Chair of the housing committee but, seriously, what else are they going to say? They are private developers. They are investor funds. Of course they are going to say that. Michael Stanley who appeared the committee had €8.5 million in remuneration last year, and we are pumping public money into these guys and just taking everything they say as fact. They absolutely have us over a barrel. We are completely and utterly dependent on them and there is no transparency around how much they are making. Of course they are saying it is great and it is working because they are getting all they want and what they are asking for. The Government is giving them everything. There is a real issue here, for me anyway. Housing is about delivering decent homes that people can live in that are affordable. These guys are not interested in that. What they want to deliver is what they can make the most money from. Unfortunately, the Minister of State is reducing the standards that people in my constituency are going to live in, because that is where apartments are being built. They are more expensive and with lower standards. That is what people will have to live in. It is not right.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08