PROPERTY OWNERS in Priory Hall in north Dublin have accused Dublin City Council of being “disingenuous with words” over allegations that the council offered to buy apartments in the complex.
The council denied at the weekend that it had offered apartment owners some €50,000 per property, or that it had entered negotiations to rent the properties from the owners.
The 187-apartment complex in Donaghmede was evacuated in October on foot of a High Court Order after it was found to to be a fire hazard.
The High Court also ordered the council to pay for alternative accommodation for residents of the complex. The council is appealing the order on accommodation to the Supreme Court and a hearing is expected on January 19th.
A council spokeswoman told The Irish Times the city manager was adamant no offer was made to the residents, either to buy or lease their properties. But a spokesman for the residents was equally insistent “an offer or a proposal” had been made.
“We were told by our advisers that the council’s advisers had put forward the idea last December,” said residents’ spokesman Graham Usher. “Maybe they are being disingenuous with words as a written offer was never made, but you could say a proposal was there.”
Separately, new legislation to tackle rogue builders will include the introduction of mandatory inspections of new building developments, a Department of the Environment spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The draft legislation is designed to ensure developers and builders are in compliance with building regulations and planning conditions, he said.
Welcoming the proposed measures, Laois/Offaly Labour Senator John Whelan claimed “there is not one county in the country that doesn’t have houses which are not fit for purpose. Priory Hall is merely the tip of the iceberg.”