Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has said that any proposed changes to the 2015 statutory guidelines on apartments must not result in any reduction of apartment and housing standards.

The Sinn Féin TD was responding to the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy’s, proposals on the issue of city dwellings and apartments.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“My party Sinn Féin will consider any sensible proposal that seeks to increase the supply of homes for people across the state but that doesn’t mean to a dumbing down of regulations or a reduction in overall standards.

“The Minister’s latest leaked proposals would allow developers a free hand to build higher apartment blocks with reduced parking spaces and this clearly highlights who he is listening to in this crisis. It is not planners, it is not environmentalists, it is not fire fighters, it is not local or national representatives, and it is certainly not those who will be forced live in them long into the future.

“His leaked proposals would see the construction of high-rise developments catering for hundreds of people, with shared services offered to tenants. This suggests that while individual apartment residents would have their own bedroom and ensuite facilities, they would have communal kitchens and living room facilities. There is also some suggestion that his proposals would ultimately lead to smaller apartment units and a lift on the ban on bedsits.

“We know to our society’s cost that his previous initiatives and those of his predecessors have all failed miserably as the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse. Its seems to be back to the dog boxes idea, with nowhere to dry basics like clothes and smaller living spaces, the opposite to family friendly.

“Rent certainty, the issue of land hoarding, vacant homes, affordable housing and greater investment in social housing are clearly not his priority and those of his government.

“Clearly the Minister and his government colleagues don’t get it and are all marked absent when it comes to realistic responses to our growing lack of housing and apartment crisis.”

ENDS