Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with Deputy Ó Broin's amendments. I will move amendment No. 141 and discuss that as it is purely a technical amendment.

Amendments Nos. 139 and 140, as tabled by Deputies Ó Broin and Gould and as Deputy Ó Broin has explained, seek to include a reference to "public". I genuinely do not believe this is required and I do not intend to accept these amendments.

Section 48 deals with the establishment and operation of the register of relevant public land. That is there already. The Deputy is just seeking to rename that to a public register of relevant public land. I do not consider the amendment to be required, although I remain to be convinced. I am happy if Deputy Ó Broin wishes to come back for some particular reason. It is not the title of the register that will determine that it will be a publicly available register but rather the provisions that are already in section 48(5), which provides that, "The Register shall be published and made available for inspection by the Agency on its website."

It will be a public register and that is important. The LDA has already commenced work on the register, as we all know. A prototype is available on its website but more work is required. The development of the register is a priority and it has to be, as I have said to the LDA. It is important that there is full public oversight. I assure all Deputies, particularly the Deputies who tabled this amendment, that a register will be publicly available for use by all and at all times. I completely agree that the register is a vital tool for the LDA and the Government to identify all relevant public lands; that is, lands owned by relevant public bodies in areas with populations greater than 10,000, as we understand. I think we are all clear on that. The register will detail land such owned by the Office of Public Works, OPW, Departments, local authorities and all other State bodies, including commercial State bodies.

The register will be used to identify public lands. If they are not sold, they will have an affordability requirement attached to them under the legislation, which is really important too. This will ensure that regardless of whether the land is being developed by the LDA or another developer, there will be a requirement to provide 50% affordable housing, at least in certain areas. We will deal with other changes to that next week. I intend to increase that further - above 50% - in other areas. The register will be used by the LDA to report to the Government on the use of public land. We really need that. We need to ensure there is full visibility and full oversight. In order to ensure the register is as complete as possible, public bodies will be required to co-operate with the LDA, and the LDA will be able to request information from such bodies in terms of all relevant public lands they have. Unless Deputy Ó Broin believes we have missed something, I am happy to listen. It is important that we focus on what the register does as opposed to what it is named, and I think we have been incredibly clear on that in section 48.

Amendment No. 141 is purely a technical amendment and corrects an editing error in section 48(3) by replacing the word "on" with "in". The phrase "entered on the Register" has been changed to "entered in the Register". This amendment does not in any way change the intent of the provision and simply corrects a drafting error.