OPPOSITION parties have criticised the government after more than 1,000 people applied for just 99 affordable houses at a new Dublin development.
The Montpelier development on the former O'Devaney Gardens site comprises 1,046 new homes, with prices beginning at €248,000 for a one-bedroom apartment.
Sinn Féin said the overwhelming number of applications for the affordable residences highlighted the government's failure to deliver adequate numbers of homes to meet demand.
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats questioned just how affordable the prices were.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the desperate scramble for homes had been 'created by the persistent failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deliver genuinely affordable homes on the scale required'.
"The scandal at O'Devaney Gardens lays bare the government's profound housing failures," she added.
"Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have persistently set affordable housing targets that are far too low and then miss those targets every year.
"In far too many instances, when so-called affordable homes do come on stream, we see price-tags far beyond what is affordable.
"This can't go on. What we need urgently is a major change of direction. We need to use public land for public housing.
"We need purpose and action to deliver homes that working people can actually afford and at the scale that overcoming this crisis demands."
Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats' housing spokesperson, echoed Ms McDonald's view that the homes are beyond the reach of many buyers.
"The reality is that the homes being sold in the Montpelier scheme can hardly be described as affordable — a price tag of €400,000 for a two-bed apartment is outrageous, while a three-bed will cost up to €473,000," he said.
"Who exactly is that affordable for? You would need an income of more than €100,000 to be able to buy some of the so-called affordable homes in this development."
Applications for the affordable homes were open for three weeks, from November 25 until December 16, 2025.
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