National Regeneration and Development Agency

QUESTION

* To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the proposed location of the headquarters of the regeneration and development agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

* To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the number of staff working within the regeneration and development agency; the anticipated number of staff by the end 2018 and 2019, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

* To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the amount allocated to the 2018 budget for the regeneration and development agency; the anticipated budget for 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Darragh O'Brien T.D.

REPLY

Project Ireland 2040, published in February 2018, signals a significant policy shift towards securing more compact and sustainable urban and rural development, which requires significantly more effective land management in key development areas. Against that background, it is proposed to establish a National Regeneration and Development Agency to assist in ensuring a more effective approach to strategic land management, particularly in terms of publicly owned land.
The Agency will act as a national centre of expertise, working with and supporting local authorities, public bodies and other interests, to harness public lands as catalysts to stimulate regeneration and wider investment and to achieve compact, sustainable growth, with a particular emphasis on complex regeneration projects and the provision of affordable housing.
Detailed arrangements in relation to the functions, powers and mechanisms for the establishment of the Agency are currently being developed by my Department, in conjunction with the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with a view to their early finalisation. These discussions will inform the designing of the functions, resource needs, budgetary requirements and location of the Agency, once it is established.