Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Coleman and all his team for the work that has gone into this area and for his detailed contributions. It is great that we are talking about the Affordable Housing Bill in tandem with the Land Development Agency because together those two Bills represent the Government's response to the affordable housing crisis. It is great to hear Mr. Coleman talk about further sites that have the capacity for another 3,000 homes and 7,200 homes in total in the very near foreseeable future. Senator Moynihan asked about breakdowns of what is coming down the tracks. I appreciate that Mr. Coleman does not have any indication at this stage of what the breakdown would be of cost rental, social or affordable housing. However, it would be helpful if we could get some timelines as to when we might expect announcements of sites that are coming down the tracks and how quickly the breakdown of those sites might be looked at.

Mr. Coleman has spoken a lot about the Shanganagh site and he has used it as an example of collaboration with councillors. I do not mean to be negative when I say I have had much feedback from councillors on the ground in Dún Laoghaire who feel they did not have the input into that they would have liked. Originally the proposal was for 200 social houses, 200 affordable homes and 127 cost rental units but that changed when another 70 units were introduced. The level of social houses stayed the same but there was a reduction of almost 50% in the affordable housing and a substantial increase in the cost rental housing. Councillors to whom I spoke felt they had to fight to get an additional 40 affordable housing purchases added onto that. They feel there was a need on the ground in their area to deliver affordable housing as one of the key priorities. I am just using that as an example of the kind of tension that often exists between councillors and bodies like the LDA, though I am not solely referring to the LDA. That is just how it works and I say that as someone who was a councillor for a decade. The idea that councillors' views and powers could potentially be pushed aside is of huge concern to county councillors. I know Mr. Coleman has discussed it a little already but is there any more comfort or explanation he could give us that could help alleviate those concerns? That would be useful.

This is more about the LDA side of things than the Affordable Housing Bill but I ask Mr. Coleman to explain the CPO powers of the LDA in more detail.

This could be a bit of an ignorant question but I am just wondering about development levies. Does the LDA pay full rate levies and is that regardless of whether or not there is a site service fund allocated to a site? If the LDA does pay full development levies, could that funding potentially be red-circled so it is used solely in the development? That could reduce the end price for the buyers, the council or those renting.