Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 October 2024

Public Accounts Committee

Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency

9:30 am

Photo of Cormac DevlinCormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome our witnesses. I thank Mr. Coleman for his opening remarks. I will start by addressing Shanganagh Castle Estate. It is close to my own heart because, before my time as a TD, I was a councillor on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I know how long that site lay vacant. While there were several plans for it, it was not until the LDA took over the site – the first one it took over – that anything was delivered. That has spanned from November 2022 when ground was broken until the launch of the scheme, as Mr. Coleman referred to in his opening remarks, which is extremely welcome.

He mentioned the portal opening yesterday for the affordable homes at the site. I agree with him that it will be oversubscribed several times over. That just shows the demand and the yearning for affordable homes. It is wonderful to have them back in the market again. I congratulate Mr. Coleman and everyone who was involved in delivering this project on time and on budget. Hopefully, we see more of these projects because they are important to all of us.

The Comptroller and Auditor General referred to the site at Shanganagh. The agency’s income in 2023 was €24.1 million. There was a recharge to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for equivalent direct costs incurred for the associated development of social housing at Shanganagh. Can Mr. Coleman briefly outline what that particular recharge to the council entailed? Was that just for the affordable units?