Senator Rónán Mullen (Ind) has said that Sinn Féin is acting to deliberately prolong the housing crisis for political gain. The comments were made during a recent Seanad discussion of the Land Development Agency Bill 2021.
Senator Mullen said that there were “two primary reasons” for the failure of local authorities to address housing needs in recent years – one of those being “the deliberate obstruction of large-density housing projects by the Sinn Féin party.” Senator Mullen noted that Sinn Féin says “it is not doing so deliberately,” but, he said, “the reality is that no matter what the project, Sinn Féin councillors always manage to find reasons to oppose it.”
“Even Goldilocks,” the Senator joked, “found a bowl of porridge to suit her eventually.” The Senator said that it was “impossible” to accept that “these are genuine objections and not part of a deliberate and concerted strategy to prolong the housing crisis for political gain.”
Senator Mullen ended his comments on Sinn Féin by saying that “I have a funny feeling that if Sinn Féin were elected to government in the near future, new orders will be issued…and we would see a sudden increase in the number of developments being approved.”
The Senator also turned his ire on Dublin City Council, saying they were, in relation to housing, “nothing short of appalling.” He said the Council spends most of its time “debating whether to display the Palestinian flag, or vanity projects such as the white-water rafting white elephant, or pie in the sky issues such as a four-day working week” whilst ignoring the fact they are the “elected local authority of a city that cannot adequately house its own population.”
During the discussion Senators Malcolm Byrne (FF), Pat Casey (FF), and Eugene Murphy (FF) also made comments about Sinn Féin representatives voting against public housing developments.
Senator Byrne called on Senator Fintan Warfield (SF) to “encourage his Sinn Féin colleagues” to “stop opposing the building of social housing;” Senator Casey argued that “Sinn Féin does not want social housing on public land. The hypocrisy in which Sinn Féin engages time and again must stop;” and Senator Murphy said that “the reality is that there are too many objections, particularly from Sinn Féin councillors, to housing developments.”