Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This amendment speaks to the fundamental difference between our party's approach to this new agency and the Government's. When the agency was first mooted in the national planning framework, it was quite clear that the purpose of the agency was to be primarily in the area of active land management, something for which the NESC, the ESRI, the Housing Agency and others have called for a very long time. Under the previous Government, however, the LDA became far less an active land management agency and more a residential developer. As a consequence, it has very weak compulsory purchase order powers. It will not be able to work on land other than in active partnership with the landowner, whoever that may be. Therefore, the original intention and something that is desperately needed, an active land management agency with strong CPO powers and a strong budget for land acquisition, public and private, is missing from the Bill. This is the first in a series of amendments we are tabling to try to shift the focus away from residential development, which we do not believe the LDA should be involved in. We think that should be the function of local authorities, approved housing bodies and community housing trusts. Instead, we want to insert in the centre of this legislation active land management policies, as other jurisdictions have, which play a very important role in bringing down the price of land, moderating development costs in the public and private sectors and making homes more affordable.