Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives for their presentations. I will be brief. I thank Mr. O'Neill for his very concise three-page report which is one of the shortest that has been presented to the committee. He referred to his experience of working with Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, but he did not mention South Dublin County Council or Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Has he been involved with the latter two councils or is he doing any work with them? Perhaps it is optional and they do not require the assistance of the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA. As I do not know how it works, I ask him to touch on how the NDFA interfaces with county councils.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien raised the issue of the Land Development Agency not being a legal entity. The Government indicated that it required at least 30% of land released from central controlled bodies to be utilised for affordable housing. In addition, it stated provision woull be increased by the 10% Part V properties and could be further increased through co-operation with landowners. The importance of the Land Development Agency and its relationship with other bodies, including local authorities, is critical. There is a suggestion legislation dealing with the Land Development Agency will shortly be brought through the Houses, which is very important and must be welcomed. Great fanfare accompanied the launch by the Government of the Land Development Agency, with the allocation of €1.25 billion which was to be used to quickly develop 150,000 new homes. There was great excitement and press releases were issued. Of course, that took place in September 2018 and progress has been slow since. I send that broader message to Members of the Houses.

Mr. Baneham referred to land in Enniskerry that was provided for the Housing Agency at no cost. However, there was a substantial cost attached to that land. Is he aware of the initial cost of it? The suggestion in a one-line throwaway remark that it was given to the Housing Agency at no cost is correct because there was a cost somewhere along the line. When considering the unit cost of properties, we must bear in mind the overall cost of a site.

Yes, there were constraints. I acknowledge that the Housing Agency did a lot of work and everyone involved helped to pare back the cost substantially, which fed into the delays. However, I welcome the fact that we are now going to see units there. Perhaps the witnesses could talk about the acquisition costs and tell us again the cost of each of the residential units.

I refer to the developments in Skerries, Dublin and Devoy Park in Naas. Again this concerns the role and function of the Land Development Agency or other State interests. That ultimately will determine the outcome. For example, I refer to the 30% requirement I mentioned, the additional 10% accounted for by Part V properties and the additional units that will become available through the co-operation of landowners. That is all critical. The Government has major landbanks and resources. Those belong to the State. We need to maximise their potential for affordable and social housing. While the Land Development Agency has a commercial remit, we have to be realistic about that. Everyone welcomes the mixed tenure and mixed housing which is envisaged. That is important for a range of reasons. However, we need a lot more clarity. Will the representatives of the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, elaborate on the agency's relationship with the Land Development Agency? The witnesses have told us that the agency has agreed to provide these three sites in Skerries, Dublin and Kildare. On what conditions are these sites provided? The NDFA set specific requirements for the provision of long-term cost rental housing on these sites. What conditions have been set? Will the witnesses elaborate on those? How can the NDFA be sure they will be enforced and adhered to? I ask the representatives to tell us that in the context of Government policy on the use of State lands.