Plans for so-called “co-living” developments in Dublin that could see up to more than 40 people sharing a single kitchen and living area have been slammed as 'grotesque' by Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrew.
This comes after Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said earlier this week that young people should be 'excited' about the prospect of paying less money for less space.
Murphy came in for heavy criticism following the comments, and Barry Andrews, who is Fianna Fáil’s Dublin candidate for the European Parliament, has said proposals to develop hundreds of ‘co-living units’ across the city is a pathetic attempt to address a worsening crisis in the capital’s rental market.
He said: “Proposing that people should hand over upwards of €1,300 of their well-earned wages to rent a 178 square foot box, with a foldaway bed and kitchenette, or to share a kitchen and a common room with 40 odd other people is bad enough. Suggesting that they should feel privileged to do so is downright insulting.
“The Dublin people that I have met while campaigning this afternoon, are furious. They are extremely worried that this is being supported by Fine Gael politicians in very powerful and influential positions. Developers can see the scale of this emergency, the Government’s failure to tackle it and their complacency in facilitating it. They’re now moving to take maximum advantage of the crisis.
He concluded: “Those in a position to move abroad to see more of their own wages or save for a mortgage are being forced to leave. They’ve no choice, such is the level of pressure renting here has on their income.
“If we care at all about the reputation of Dublin as a major European capital city we cannot allow these units to proceed, even with Ministerial approval. This scheme must have no place whatsoever in Ireland.”
