I wish to raise the implications of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government's decision to increase building heights in Dublin. This decision was made without any regard to the setting, the impact on land values or any sense of home or quality of life. What it has done is open a space for developers whose Celtic tiger excesses and irresponsibility had drastic consequences in many areas, including housing. The permission was given because this door was opened to an application for a 22-storey tower on Tara Street from Tanat Limited, which is controlled by property developer Johnny Ronan. This application had already been rejected by Dublin City Council planners because its scale and bulk would be significantly detrimental to the architecture and conservation of the area from Trinity College along the Liffey to the Customs House and into O'Connell Street.

Under freedom of information, I received copies of letters between developers and Ministers for Housing, Planning and Local Government. Apart from the praise and considerable redactions, one quote stood out. This stated that height limits are compromising Dublin's ability to respond to the housing crisis. I would ask what this 22-storey tower will do for housing. The answer is nothing. I want to turn to the docklands. Quotes relating to the docklands stated that restrictions are preventing delivery of appropriate residential densities in Dublin docklands and constitute a significant impediment to increasing housing supply there.

To date, the current height had been adhered to because of the SDZ, which is a legally binding contract between the local authority, the developer and the community. Developers are now lobbying and pressurising Dublin City Council to review the SDZ but only on height, which is the door the Minister has opened. If there is a review, the other aspects of an SDZ should be part of the review. They include aspects like plot ratio, sustainable living, social audit, benefit to community, quality of life, social mix and infrastructure. The review of the height is supposedly for housing but in reality, it is for high-rise offices, commercial space, hotels, aparthotels and some student accommodation with the housing all being buy-to-lets that will not be on sale on the open market. There is zero scope for public servants and people on average wages to afford to live in the area never mind the local community. There is such hypocrisy, that is, that this is supposed to be for housing. During the previous building boom in the docklands, 36 social homes were built. There will be no social homes with these plans. The social element is gone. It has gone to Rialto and along the M50.

Well-established communities in the docklands area of North Wall are being ignored and treated with contempt. They are overshadowed and are now facing a 22-storey office block that is practically in their back gardens. What is happening involves giving away control of an important part of the city - North Lotts and South Lotts - to developers. Do we never learn? We will be left with uninspiring glass cages and no communities, houses or homes. Where is a real, creative and sustainable vision for Dublin with people at its core, not profiteering egotistical developers with abysmal track records when it comes to quality of life for communities and ordinary people?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I would prefer not to comment on an individual planning application, building or SDZ without having studied it. I am not informed enough to comment specifically on it but I am advised that Dublin City Council is reviewing the SDZ for that area. I would expect the council to take all issues into account, including the impact on existing residents, their residential amenity and all of the factors that should be taken into account in planning.

On a general note, I support the policy of us going higher in our cities, not just in Dublin but also in the Tivoli docklands in the centre of Cork and the city centres of Limerick and Galway. Rather than growing out and continuing to sprawl, our cities should grow up. That is not just for housing. It also applies to office buildings, public buildings and every type of building we build. If we have more dense development, which involves some high rise in our city centres, it is right in terms of climate action and our response to climate change. It means less commuting and people spending less time in their cars and more time with their families. It means that we can run public services and public transport much more efficiently. The Deputy and I, and, I am sure, most people in this House, travel all over the world and see beautiful cities all over the world that have high density be they Chicago, San Diego or Barcelona. People there have a good quality of life, good services and good public transport and live in much higher densities. I do not think that is a bad model. I think it is a good model but we must take everything into account. Whether a planning application is for a two, six or 25-storey building, planners must take all factors into account such as the architectural merit of the building, its impact on other people and whether it is a near zero-emissions building. In principle, we are right to go higher in our cities but one does not just go ahead and do it without taking all those other factors into account.

I think there is a space for high rise but Dublin is not New York or Chicago. Dublin has a particular historic and cultural aspect to it. Let us not be hypocritical about this. Height increases have nothing to do with housing. Regardless of whether or not they are appropriate for family living, they have nothing to do with housing. It is time we move away from terms like "social and affordable" and begin to use the term "public housing". I do not know whether the Taoiseach got to CHQ to see the exhibition on the Vienna model. What we had there was a creative and innovative use of space and current buildings. It is being presented as a way forward and I think we should look at it. The docklands could be the lead on that. Otherwise we are consigning the docklands to offices, business space and high rise all over the place. The communities there have suffered enough already. I do not know whether the Taoiseach saw the video footage released by the IFI last night.

It showed the demolition of Sheriff Street in the 1980s, with people hoping something better was going to come. I refer to another scheme in the Ballsbridge area. There is a block of, I think, 80 apartments there. They are all being bought up, and for what? To put up 300 buy-to-lets in the area. We are creating a market for a certain kind of people. What we are seeing is increasing land values and then the flipping of sites. We are going against what was agreed in the strategic development zones, SDZs, and I hope what the Taoiseach says, that everything will be reviewed, will come to pass.

We need all types of development in Ireland, including in our cities: housing, office buildings, hotels and student accommodation. We will have a population of 6 million by 2040. It is therefore not a case of either-or; we will need all sorts of development in our cities. While the block to which the Deputy refers has no housing in it, An Bord Pleanála just the other day approved planning permission for 3,500 homes in Poolbeg, consisting of a mixture of private, affordable and social housing at high densities. She is right about Tara Street, but not far from Tara Street is Poolbeg, where 3,500 residential units have been approved.

I have not been over to CHQ recently but I have been to Vienna many times. The model of public housing used in Vienna has merit. It is one of the reasons we are doing cost-rental housing on Emmet Road and in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, for example. What I find ironic, however, is that many of the people who laud the Vienna model are opposed to aspects of it here in Ireland. The Vienna model involves a relatively high local property tax being used to help subsidise housing, something very much opposed by the left in Ireland. The model does not involve direct build by local authorities; housing is provided through public private partnerships and affordable housing bodies, which the left in Ireland viciously opposes. The model also involves relatively low levels of home ownership. Most people in Vienna do not own their own homes; they are tenants. The model is buy-to-let.