Gov under fire for seeking foreign investors for Irish housing on French Riviera

Cork City Council has sent a delegate to Cannes

09:35, 10 Mar 2026Updated 09:36, 10 Mar 2026

The Government is playing defence today on a controversial decision to hire an entire pavilion at Europe’s biggest property conference as they look to attract billions of euros of foreign investment into the Irish property market.

The decision to hire a dedicated Irish pavilion at the MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier) in Cannes on the French Riviera has drawn fire as Ireland continues to struggle with a decade-long housing crisis. A huge proportion of new build houses and apartments are hoovered up by international funds and then rented out – just two weeks ago, it was confirmed that only 2% of Cork’s new build homes sold on open market in 2024 – around 30 out of the 1,499 that were constructed.

The figures are similar in Dublin, Limerick and elsewhere around the country. The MIPIM Conference is known as the ‘Davos of Real Estate’ with up to 20,000 attendees and all of the world’s major property investment groups – many of them effectively huge landlords – flocking to Cannes to look for opportunities.

The Irish Minister for Housing, James Browne and his department’s Secretary General are due to speak at the conference, and the Irish delegation is set to include reps from the the Housing Agency, the Land Development Agency, Department of Finance, and representatives from local authorities in Cork and Dublin.

Minister Browne has already addressed the conference, telling the world’s major property investment groups that Ireland represents a very strong market to invest in and adding: “We want to work in partnership with private capital opportunities to deliver on this mission”.

Cork City Council told CorkBeo that they have one delegate at the conference in Cannes, a member of the Cork Docklands Delivery Office, who is “representing Cork City Council at the Marché International des Professionnels de I’Immobilier (MIPIM) event.”

A spokesperson said: “Cork City Council is funding their attendance at the event without any private sector support” and said the mission there is to support the delivery of housing and new developments in Cork City.

“The Cork Docklands Delivery Office is a joint initiative established by Cork City Council and the Land Development Agency to drive and coordinate the ambitious regeneration programme for Cork Docklands – which at 147-acres is one of the largest brownfield regeneration sites in the country,” said the spokesperson.

“The representative will be involved in a panel discussion on the development opportunities in Cork Docklands, where, with a planned investment of over €470m in enabling infrastructure, there is capacity to provide 10,000 new homes and up to 25,000 jobs.”

Irish Housing Minister James Browne has already addressed the conference, telling the world’s major property investment groups that Ireland represents a very strong market to invest in and adding: “We want to work in partnership with private capital opportunities to deliver on this mission”.

However, the Minister and the Government has come under fire in the Dail for what opposition parties have called a ‘glizty event for Vulture Funds’.

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne said: “It is highly inappropriate that the Minister for Housing is attending an international property conference in France this week aimed at enticing more vulture funds to Ireland”.

The Soc Dems spokesperson on housing said: “It is extremely disappointing that the Minister did not heed my call on him to cancel his attendance at this year’s Marché International des Professionels de l’Immoblier in Cannes. Instead, he has the brass neck to issue a press release highlighting the fact that he is leading the Irish delegation at the conference – courtesy of the Irish taxpayer and a number of large developers who are sponsoring the Ireland Pavilion at this exclusive event.

“Essentially, the minister will be using the conference to send out the message to international investor funds and institutional landlords that Ireland offers an opportunity to set rents at whatever level they want – and then reset them to market rates every six years.

“It is highly inappropriate for Minister Browne to be going cap in hand to international investor funds at time when we are witnessing eviction levels In Ireland not seen since the Famine. Yet again, it shows that this government’s only solution to the housing crisis is to continue bringing in vulture funds to buy up Irish homes and turn them into financial assets.

“Instead of rubbing shoulders with rich investor fund managers at a glitzy event in Cannes, Minister Browne should be focusing on delivering more social and affordable homes in Ireland. His attendance at this conference is further evidence that when it comes to pursuing flawed housing policy, this government is again doubling down on failure.”