Ms Helen Murray O'Connor:

I am a senior lecturer and programme chair of the spatial planning programme in TU Dublin. I am speaking to the committee in that capacity. I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for this invitation to attend. My colleague, Mr. Odran Reid, and I will present two related but very different elements. I will take the first aspect and I will then pass over to Mr. Reid. I thank the committee for reading our submission material, and we look forward to the discussion and questions.

I will concentrate on the four main issues with regard to the different functions contained within land management including: the issue of data and associated skill sets; State lands in the context of land management; and the legislative aspects.

My own interests are in land, coastal and marine governance - and obviously I also look at the terrestrial aspect - and the management and administrative functions that are included in the interrelated systems and processes, which are land tenure, land value, land use and land development. In research terms, this is called the land management paradigm. This is a fancy term but in effect is just that those four functions deserve equal attention. This will come into play when I talk about State lands.

Despite an array of commendable policy documents and strategies, and evidence of very good practice across the public sector generally, significant headway in the provision of housing has generally been slow to materialise. It is clear, however, that the issue is not solely about the scarcity of land for greenfield development, nor is it just about the complexities of repurposing existing building stock into residential units, or, indeed, about the infrastructure needed to support such development. Rather, it is evident that many facets of this challenge relate to policymakers and decision-makers not having ready access to appropriate, fit-for-purpose data to allow the level of analysis, spatial analysis and the locational intelligence required for the urgent next steps to happen. I have tuned in and listened to previous committee sessions and I am aware that the committee has considered whether we are asking the right questions of such land and property-related policies and plan. However, the more critical question is whether these policies and plans are sufficiently informed by appropriate and accurate, current and complete information.

With regard to the skill sets that are needed, it is very hard to establish a good baseline with respect to skill sets. Certainly, the analysis required is quite tricky in trying to interpret, manipulate and manage very large datasets, multi-criteria site evaluations, public-facing interactive mapping, and needs quantification across local and central government.

With regard to State lands, statutory bodies are obliged under the Registration of Title Act 1964 to register all property acquired since July 1967. Government direction in this regard has been clear and constant over the years. The LDA's mandate is now to activate State lands, and it is imperative that we ensure such public sector assets lands and property are indeed registered.

I will go back to my first point with respect to the land management paradigm. The proposed merger of Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Property Registration Authority of Ireland, and the Valuation Office into Tailte Éireann provides an opportunity for transformative change. I welcome this committee's report of December 2021 on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Tailte Éireann Bill 2020, and in particular the two recommendations that the PSRA would be brought into the merger and that the associated data sets around the property price register would be brought into play. I believe that these recommendations should be fully endorsed and are a welcome insertion and consideration.

I will now hand over to my colleague Mr. Reid, as I am conscious of not taking too much time. I would welcome any questions from members in time.