Labour speaking out of both sides of their mouth about privatisation of public lands.
In a statement this morning, Richard Boyd Barrett slammed Land Development Agency as a vehicle for privatisation of public land, yet another Fine Gael ploy to line the pockets of developers.
The People Before Profit TD said that a Land Development Agency was a good idea in principle but, as currently proposed by Fine Gael, will in fact just be another mechanism to sell off public land to private developers.
Richard Boyd Barrett said also that the Labour Party were speaking out of both sides of their mouths – saying they were “alarmed” by the proposal to “flog off” land to private developers while at the very same time their councillors in South Dublin County Council have voted and are supporting the plan to plan to flog 70% of the publicly owned Kilcarberry lands to private developers!
He said: “The new proposal put forward by the government, the Land Development Agency, is just another vehicle for the privatisation of public lands. Dressed up as a new plan to deliver homes – in effect it will only serve to line the pockets of the private developers and will mean council housing is relegated to the crumbs from the rich man’s table.
“A Land Development Agency is a good idea but it should be focussed entirely on building public and affordable housing on public land and acquiring vacant and disused homes, buildings and sites from private developers and land lords who are sitting on acres of land waiting for the prices to rise.”
“We need a radical new policy from government that is entirely focussed on delivering public and affordable housing, there is NO need for more unaffordable homes. It is abundantly clear that Rebuilding Ireland is not working, the new Land Development Agency is just the same old policy that we have seen from this government and the previous Fine Gael Labour coalition and will not solve the housing emergency.”