Lands transferred to the Land Development Agency

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the amount and location of lands transferred to the Land Development Agency to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the amount and location of lands that have been transferred to the Land Development Agency to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY
 
On establishment, the Land Development Agency (LDA) had access to an initial tranche of 8 sites that have near term delivery potential for 3,000 new homes.  The sites concerned are as follows:
 
1. Central Mental Hospital Site, Dundrum 
2. Hampton, Balbriggan
3. Hacketstown, Skerries  
4. Devoy Barracks, Naas 
 5. Former Meath Hospital, Dublin City Centre 
6. St. Kevin's Hospital, Cork
7. Columb Barracks, Mullingar
8. Dyke Road, Galway
The ownership of 7 of the sites will not formally transfer to the LDA until the Land Development Agency Bill is enacted, while the site in Galway is owned by Galway City Council and will be developed on a partnership basis.  It is intended that the Bill will be published and brought before the Oireachtas later this year; indeed, the Joint Committee of which the Deputy is a member will be conducting pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill shortly.  The LDA is also working with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on a delivery plan for a site at Shanganagh. 
Notwithstanding that the legislation has not yet been finalised, the LDA is already working on these initial sites made available to them.  While passing the LDA legislation is a priority, it is not preventing the LDA from progressing these sites.  In addition, because the sites are public lands, rather than lands in private ownership, the issue of ownership and transfer is not an obstacle to early progress.  The LDA is entering into pre-sale agreements with the land owners, as appropriate, to ensure that it has full access to the sites to carry out necessary pre-construction activities.  Significant preparatory work is underway, with feasibility and planning work already initiated and the first planning applications due to be submitted later this year.  Construction activity is envisaged to commence on some sites by mid-2020, subject to the grant of planning permissions, with the first homes due to be completed by the end of 2020.