Ms Maria Graham:

Yes, indeed. I am conscious that it would be a variation on this legislative vehicle if it is to be used for it. I acknowledge that the committee, on the previous occasion, discussed matters that would arise on Committee Stage, but I am sure that if that is to be the case, the committee will examine it then. We will probably examine it during the drafting of the Bill.

The Senator also referred to strategic development zones, SDZs. I might deal with the matter from a general perspective and Mr. Coleman might like to comment on some of the practical aspects. We have learned quite a bit from the operation of some of the SDZs and how delivery can be affected by changes in the development cycle. In the longer term, one of the purposes of the LDA is site assembly, which allows us to be more robust and the State to be ready before the market can respond. We had hoped activity would be faster for a number of SDZs but it was a matter of market conditions.

The other element is infrastructure provision. Quite often, SDZs were put in place but there may not have been sufficient infrastructure provision, or the cost of infrastructure provision hampered them somewhat. The urban regeneration and development fund, which will account for €2 billion over the period of the national development plan, will provide a useful vehicle for supporting such activity in the future. Under the first call, both Cherrywood and Waterford SDZs received some funding, which was to bridge the gap. From a policy perspective in any event, we seek to learn from experience and ensure that the SDZs work more efficiently.

While one role of the LDA is activating, assembling and working on transferred land, there are also the services it may assign local authorities for master planning and other aspects. Mr. Coleman might like to comment on that aspect and how it might work in an SDZ context.He covered the elements of how land is acquired, which addresses the underlying way we approach the transfer of land as an in specieinvestment, to address the point the Senator raised about ensuring that the LDA will act as an economic operator and that there will not be an issue from a competition perspective.

We probably dealt with the issue of elected members disposing of land. It is their land.