Affordable Housing in Cork

madisona

During the last few years Cork City Council has steadfastly refused to implement a government provision which allows local authorities to acquire 20% of housing in new developments for resale as affordable housing. Instead the City Manager and his officials have used an opt out clause in the legislation to give exemptions to developers in exchange for small payments. This policy has saved the developers tens of millions and led to Cork having the largest affordable housing waiting lists in the country.

It has now emerged that a company called "Cork 2005 events" has received millions of euro in donations from the same developers that have benifited from the decision to exempt them for the affordable housing provision. The City Manager who sits on the board of this company has admitted that he has personally approached developers for donations.

So how have our elected officials reacted to this clear conflict of interest. During last Mondays Council meeting Cllr Máirín Quill tabled a motion calling for the creation of a "roll of honour" to thank the developers for their selfless donations.

mentalson

This is a very unpopular provision anyway which is why Cork has refused to implement it. It has proved to be very devisive in Dublin. People don't want to live next to someone who has got the same house as them for a lot less. As far as I know the council will be building some seperate affordable housing in a year or two.