The Government today defended its commitment to providing affordable homes nationwide, despite criticisms land swaps could create ghettos.
As reported in today's Irish Times, the Minister for Environment Dick Roche has agreed a deal with developers that will see 89 new affordable homes constructed at Ongar village in Clonsilla, west Dublin.
The agreement, an exchange for the state-owned Broc House on Nutley Lane in Dublin's exclusive Ballsbridge, is the second under a scheme launched last year to swap prime sites in the city for affordable houses and apartments in the suburbs.
Mr Roche said: "We have achieved tremendous value for money, securing almost four times as many homes as the Broc House site itself could have accommodated.
"This is real evidence of the Government's determination to use innovative ways to increase and accelerate the delivery of affordable housing."
The minister said that following a recommendation from the Affordable Homes Partnership he had accepted a bid from property company Alanis Limited securing discounts on homes of some €10.6 million below the market price.
The land swap scheme was piloted last year with a site in Harcourt Terrace, Dublin. The minister said new homes would be made available much quicker under the agreement.
"We will achieve delivery of the 89 homes within a much shorter timeframe than if the Broc House site had been sold and the proceeds used to purchase land and construct affordable housing units elsewhere," he said.
The first of the homes, most of which are for families, are expected to be ready in February or March next year, with the rest following by the end of 2007.
They will go on the market for between €227,000 and €330,000. Mr Roche also revealed he hoped to tie up a third land swap deal for a second site on Harcourt Terrace.
But the Green Party expressed concern at the initiative with Ciaran Cuffe TD labelling the move disturbing.
"We are concerned that these types of land swaps may increase ghettoization in urban areas. The Government should be actively counteracting ghettoization yet this high-profile land swap appears to be going in the opposite direction," Mr Cuffe said.
Under the Planning and Development Act 2000 developers are required to give up 20 per cent of their land, homes or sites for social or affordable housing. But an opt-out clause introduced by former Environment Minister Martin Cullen TD allows lands elsewhere to be swapped or the equivalent value paid over in cash.
Mr Cuffe said "The Green Party in Government will reverse that change and make sure that affordable homes are provided in every postal district in Dublin, rather than concentrating on sites in peripheral locations where demand is lower.
"Children who have grown up in Dun Laoghaire or Ringsend should be able to access housing close to where they grew up, rather than on the outskirts of Dublin."
The Green Party also claimed that less than 2 per cent of housing output is affordable.