Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has expressed serious concerns that the delivery of 106 desperately needed homes at Burgage More in Blessington now faces uncertainty following the decision to pull the plug on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project that was set to deliver the homes. These homes were part of PPP Bundle 3, which aimed to deliver 486 social housing units across multiple counties, including Wicklow, Dublin, Kildare, and Sligo.
Deputy Brady said “After five long years of planning, investment, and hard work the entire project of 106 homes at Burgage More in Blessington has now been thrown into uncertainty. This is not just an administrative setback; it is a devastating blow to families who have been clinging to hope while languishing on social housing waiting lists. Full planning permission was granted by Wicklow County Council in 2022, and for the last 3 years there has been no progress with these homes. Now after five years of planning, the government has pulled the plug on the Blessington homes.
I have long warned that the PPP model is not the solution to our housing crisis. It is overly complicated, involves up to five different partners in a single housing scheme, and does not represent value for money for the taxpayer. The irony now is that the government, having insisted on PPPs for years, has suddenly reversed course—acknowledging the flaws in the very system they defended and promoted. But that admission means little if it’s not followed by urgent and effective action.
The bottom line is this: identifying problems in the system isn’t enough. What matters now is delivery. The Minister must act immediately to provide direct funding to Wicklow County Council and the other local authorities affected by this collapse. These homes need to be delivered directly and without further delays. The planning is done, the sites are ready, and the need is critical. What’s missing is leadership, political will, and decisive investment.
This fiasco is just the latest in a string of failures that lay bare the government’s complete mishandling of the housing crisis. Time and again, they have missed their own housing targets. Just this year, they fell short of the 2024 national target by an astonishing 10,000 homes—and last year, they missed their social housing target by 18%, equivalent to 2,345 homes. These aren’t just numbers. Each missed target means more families stuck in emergency accommodation, more children growing up without a secure home, and more people pushed to the edge.
This kind of uncertainty and backpedalling is not the mark of a functioning housing strategy. It is the mark of a government scrambling for ideas and completely out of touch with the reality on the ground. They’re making it up as they go along while the housing crisis worsens around them.
The people of Wicklow, and across the country, deserve better. They deserve a government that can deliver homes, not excuses. The cancellation of this PPP bundle cannot be allowed to result in further delays or abandonment. The solution is clear: fund local authorities directly and empower them to build the homes we need—quickly, affordably, and with public accountability.” Ends