Dublin city councillors say a deal to provide 30% cost-rental units in O'Devaney Gardens still stands despite news that An Bord Pleanála has lifted a ban on institutional investors.
However Sinn Féin has described the deal with a private developer Bartra as a scandal that should be scrapped.
Cllr Janice Boylan of Sinn Féin said that the decision by An Bord Pleanála to remove the clause prohibiting bulk buying has opened the door for cuckoo funds.
She added that this will put the homes out of the reach of local people.
Bartra secured permission for 1,047 homes on the site formerly occupied by the O'Devaney Gardens flat complex.
The original tenure mix envisaged for the council owned site had been 50% social and affordable and 50% private.
Following controversy about the sale of state land, a deal hammered out with Bartra by the Dublin Agreement parties on the council (Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, the Social Democrats and Labour) stipulated that 30% would be cost rental leaving just 20% private.
An Bord Pleanála put in a clause banning institutional investors but removed this following a legal challenge by Bartra.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Deirdre Heney says this does not affect the agreement that 30% will be available as cost-rental.
Cllr Heney also pointed out that a ban on institutional investors was never part of the original agreement.
However discussions on the price to be paid by the City Council to Bartra for the cost rental units are still ongoing.
Meanwhile the first phase of the development involving 56 social housing units is nearly complete.
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