Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery
Local Authority Land Zoning for Housing: County and City Management Association
2:00 am
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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We are meeting today with representatives of the County and City Management Association for an engagement on local authority land zoning for housing. I am pleased to welcome: Mr. Liam Conneally, chief executive, Galway County Council, and chair, CCMA planning, land use and housing committee; Mr. Barry Kehoe, chief executive, Westmeath County Council, and chair, CCMA transport infrastructure and networks committee; and Mr. Michael Rainey, chief executive, Laois County Council, and member, CCMA planning and land use committee.
Witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative they comply with any such direction.
I remind members they will be afforded six-minute speaking slots for questions and answers, with a second chance to contribute at the end, if they so wish. I invite Mr. Conneally to make the opening statement.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
Go raibh maith agat. The Cathaoirleach has introduced my colleagues and me. We welcome this opportunity to address the committee on the implementation of the national planning framework housing growth requirements and the associated city and county development plan variation process.
I want to state clearly and unequivocally that the local government sector is fully committed to delivering on its responsibilities in addressing Ireland’s housing crisis. This is not a passive commitment expressed in correspondence. It is evidenced by the scale and pace of work being undertaken across all 31 local authorities. County and city councils are involved in the delivery of every type and tenure of housing. We are engaged at every stage of the housing life cycle from pre-planning and land activation through planning consent and development management to building control, social and affordable housing delivery and the taking in charge of estates and infrastructure. We deliver social housing directly; we secure Part V affordable housing in partnership with developers; we support cost-rental and affordable purchase schemes; and we administer the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS.
We also provide sheltered and supported housing for older people and those with additional needs. There is no stage of the housing process and no tenure type in which local government is not a central actor. All of this has been delivered simultaneously while responding to the full range of needs and demands in each local authority area. It is in that spirit that we appear before the committee today, not to offer excuses but to explain the real complexity of the task that has been asked of us, give an honest account of the very substantial progress that has been made and set out what further support is required to bring the full benefit of this work to fruition in terms of actual homes built.
The Minister’s letter of 29 July 2025, accompanied by the section 28 guidelines on housing growth requirements, set out a clear and urgent requirement, namely that each planning authority review and, where necessary, vary its county or city development plan to reflect significantly increased housing growth targets aligned to the national planning framework first revision approved by the Government in April 2025. The requirement to plan for approximately 55,000 new homes per annum to 2034, incorporating both baseline structural demand and a decade’s worth of unmet demand, represents a step change in ambition. The local government sector accepts that ambition unreservedly. However, the committee should understand that varying a development plan is not an administrative exercise. It is a substantial statutory process, and for good reason.
Each county was required to prepare: first, a settlement capacity audit to assess the development potential of lands across potentially dozens of towns and villages in each county, examining their serviced or serviceable status, planning history, and environmental constraints; second, a chief executive’s report to the elected members, setting out the evidence base and recommendations in a form that satisfies both legal requirements and the democratic mandate of the council; third, the preparation of variation documentation, including detailed maps, objectives and planning statements; fourth, full public consultation on the proposed variation, in accordance with the Planning and Development Act 2000; fifth, strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment screening and, where triggered, full assessment under the SEA, habitats, birds and floods directives, processes which involve statutory engagement with prescribed bodies and cannot be short-circuited; sixth, consideration by the elected members, exercising their reserved function, with the possibility of material alterations which themselves require a further period of consultation; and, sixth, engagement with Uisce Éireann, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and other infrastructure providers to assess the serviceability of proposed lands.
Each of the 31 local authorities entered this process at a different point in the six-year development plan cycle. Some had recently adopted plans, others were just commencing. The sector is also navigating the transition to the new planning code introduced by the Planning and Development Act 2024. Implementing new housing growth targets while managing these overlapping legislative frameworks adds significant complexity. The requirement to ensure that lands identified in variations are either serviced or readily serviceable is not merely good planning practice, it is a statutory obligation and a fundamental discipline that protects the integrity of the planning process. Zoning land that cannot be developed is not housing delivery. It is the creation of false capacity.
Against this backdrop of procedural complexity, the progress achieved across the sector is, we would argue, genuinely significant. The data compiled for the committee’s consideration, as of this month, is as follows: all 31 local authorities have formally commenced their variation process; 14 local authorities have fully completed one or more variations within the processes; an additional 10 local authorities will have completed one or more variations, subject to material alterations, by the end of June this year; three more local authorities will have completed one or more variations, subject to material alterations by the end of July 2026; and the remaining four local authorities will have completed one or more variations, subject to material alterations, by quarter 4 of this year. This is not a sector that has been inactive. This is a sector that has been working, under considerable resource pressure, to fulfil an extensive statutory obligation within a compressed timeframe.
The committee should be in no doubt about what this process will deliver in planning terms. When the variation process across all 31 local authorities is complete, there will be approximately 15,102 ha of residentially zoned land available in development plans nationally. Based on an average density of 35 units per hectare, this represents a total residential capacity of approximately 528,000 units, sufficient to house over 1.1 million people at an occupation rate of 2.1 persons per unit. The figure of 1.1 million is conservative because these figures do not include rural one-off housing that will continue to be delivered through the normal planning process; the significant pipeline from urban renewal, derelict site activation and vacancy schemes, including the croí cónaithe and urban and rural regeneration programmes; and the potential from conversions, over-the-shop units, and other non-greenfield sources of supply. In planning terms, therefore, the variation process will ensure that land availability will not be a constraint on housing delivery. Ireland will have the zoned and serviceable land required to meet the targets in the national planning framework for over a decade.
Having said that, the committee should also understand that zoning land is a necessary but not sufficient condition for housing delivery. The constraint on the realisation of these lands as actual homes will be infrastructure, particularly water and wastewater services and transport connectivity. Most of the lands being brought forward through the variation process are serviceable in principle, but their activation is contingent on capital investment by Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, Bord Gáis Energy and other utilities and, in respect of transport, by local authorities acting as road authorities. The alignment between planning timelines and infrastructure investment timelines is an area requiring sustained Government attention. In this context, the local government sector welcomes: the continued national development plan investment in Uisce Éireann’s and the ESB’s capital programme, which is essential to unlocking serviced residential land at scale; the NDP investment in transport infrastructure, which underpins both the connectivity of new residential areas and their long-term viability; and the work of the accelerating infrastructure task force, which is examining the systemic barriers to infrastructure delivery, We would seek the committee's assistance to ensure that residentially zoned land is followed by infrastructure delivery. Both are essential links in the chain from policy ambition to homes occupied. In that regard, it is desirable that the capacity registers for all utility providers support the ambition and delivery of the local authorities.
We would also draw the committee’s attention to the resourcing challenge within the local government sector. Planning departments, engineering departments and environmental teams are under significant pressure. The scale and pace of the variation process has been delivered by the existing workforce in addition to all other statutory functions. Sustained investment in local authority capacity, staffing, systems and technical expertise is a prerequisite for maintaining the momentum that has been built.
Local authorities are not bystanders in the housing crisis. We are the principal delivery mechanism of the planning and infrastructure framework within which housing is produced. We hold the democratic mandate of our councils and the skill set of our professional staff. We are present across the entire national territory, in every city, town and rural area. No other public body has our combination of local knowledge, statutory authority and direct accountability to communities. We have demonstrated that we can respond to national ambition with professional discipline and purpose. We ask the committee to recognise that this work is substantive and complex, that the progress achieved is real and significant and that the outcome – more than 500,000 homes' worth of zoned residential land – is a meaningful foundation for delivery. Given the necessary resources, and with continued constructive engagement with Departments, Uisce Éireann, the ESB and the utilities sector, the local government sector stands ready to play its full part in delivering the homes Ireland needs. We are happy to address any questions the committee may have.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Members have indicated in the following sequence: Senator Crowe; and Deputies O'Hara, Clendennen, Tóibín, Sheehan and Neville.
I will ask two questions for clarification. Mr. Conneally mentioned that all 31 local authorities have formally commenced the variation process, which is good to hear. However, he also stated that 14 have fully completed-----
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I have a question. How can people who are not in the room have indicated to speak?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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The relevant member was here and then left.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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He has not been here since the witnesses came in. I could have tapped the Cathaoirleach on the shoulder an hour ago and asked to speak first.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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He was here earlier.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I know, but we indicate to speak when we are here.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Point taken. Returning to the issue - this might be helpful for people watching and for me - Mr. Conneally said that 14 local authorities have completed one or more variations within the process and that some others will have done so next month, subject to material variations. Will he explain why some are doing one and some are doing more than one? Was it not one process? Will he explain it to us as we are not familiar with it? Why is more than one variation required in some places? Why is a variation done and then material alterations?
Mr. Conneally mentioned that land for 500,000 homes will be zoned. Is that in addition to what was already zoned? How many homes are already in areas covered? What is additional in this process? Is this land being zoned for 500,000 new homes? What is the total? Can we get that information, because I am not sure? That is why I asked.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Conneally is losing me already. We do not know what section 13 is.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
Section 13 of the 2000 Act covers the statutory process that involves the variation. It can be commenced at any time by any local authority in relation to its city or county development plan to make variations to that plan to adjust it align with to national policy direction, for example, the section 28 guidelines the Minister issued last July, or to any local considerations that change planning policy. The members can request the chief executive to commence the variation or the chief executive can bring a variation before the members. It works with reserved and executive functions. It is a reserved function. The purpose of the chief executive and executive is to bring the technical details, evidence basis and the chief executive's report to the elected members and it is one of their reserved functions to make or not to make the variation to the statutory development plan.
From our perspective, across the 31 local authorities, urban authorities might have different needs. They might master plan an area and require a variation to incorporate that area into the plan at a different time from the development plan cycle. The county or city development plan cycle is six years. If, for example, in the second year of that six-year cycle, Limerick City Council decides it wants to master plan a certain part of its jurisdiction and wants to incorporate it in its development plan, it can do so. It can then do another master plan for another part of its jurisdiction in the fourth year and another in the sixth year. It depends on when the master plan is ready. That is why, in this context, Dublin City Council has incorporated Broombridge, Hamilton and Kylemore and its Z6 review under three different variations. That is normal.
Rural authorities have different variations as well. Waterford City and County Council has completed one and is about to commence another. Laois County Council is proposing three variations. Mr. Rainey can speak for himself in that regard. A number of the local authorities are doing it. In Galway, we just have one variation because it suited us. We had all the heavy lifting done on the strategic reserve of residential land. We had the screening done from an environmental and appropriate assessment point of view, so we were able to adopt it in its entirety into one variation process. It is complex, but I hope I have explained how each individual local authority might deal with different issues.
I do not know if members have the total numbers, which is the variation. I will get them. The total amount of land that is existing residential and variation land is now 15,000. That is just over 5,000 in the variation.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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What does that 5,000 represent?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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That is a 50% increase. I understand about variations, and the various ones that can happen. Why is there reference to material alteration? Is that when the elected members want to change the variation? Will Mr. Conneally explain that?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
Some local authorities have done pre-variation public consultation. In other words, they have asked for expressions of interest for sites to inform the process. Some have done it like that. Then a report is prepared by the chief executive for the elected members identifying the submissions and reporting on each of them. This is once the section 13 variation process commences. Once the public notice issues and those submissions come in, the chief executive prepares a report on each submission, which goes to the elected members. They may decide that the recommendation of the chief executive differs and it is materially different. The chief executive's report might say that 50% of a submission should be considered in the variation lands and the members might decide they want more or less. That then goes out to public display again.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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What is the timescale for the second round?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
For the section 13 process, the shortest period it could be done in is three and a half or four months. If there is material changes, it can go to seven or eight months. By its nature, given it is zoned land we are talking about, it is always the longer period because of the environmental screening that is required from an appropriate assessment and strategic environmental assessment perspective. That process runs in parallel with the actual consideration of the zoning objective.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Members will have six minutes for their contributions and we will have a second round thereafter. I call Senator Ollie Crowe.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Conneally, Mr. Kehoe and Mr. Rainey for the presentation. To take Galway as an example-----
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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As they say, all politics is local. Carry on, Senator, but you cannot talk about any specific zoning.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of that. How do Galway City Council and Galway County Council intend to service the existing zoned land? How do they intend to balance growth between the metropolitan area and towns throughout the county? In relation to the Gaeltacht, are the councils specifically zoning lands in the Gaeltacht areas of the county? If that is the case, is that land serviced?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Each member has six minutes for over-and-back engagement.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
On the servicing of existing zoned land, Galway city and county councils are continuously in discussions with Uisce Éireann in relation to the servicing of lands and land banks in particular, specifically those that are as big as Garraun and Ardaun. That conversation is a continual one. Like the other 30 local authorities in addition to Galway County Council, we are pushing for prioritisation in terms of those water and wastewater treatment resources. That is a continuous battle. Obviously, Uisce Éireann has issued its capacity audits to us. We know where capacity is across the county and across the city from a zoned land perspective. We also know where the pressure for additional resources will be across the city and county.
On the question of balanced growth, it is incumbent on us, from both a Galway metropolitan spatial planning perspective and a Galway county perspective, to ensure that, while a significant amount of residential development is located in the Galway metropolitan area, our county towns are sustained and, furthermore, that we use croí cónaithe for towns and all the other Government funding instruments, such as the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, and the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, to make sure we are revitalising those towns. We have plans for those towns. We are continuously fighting for resources to service those towns from both a water and wastewater treatment perspective and also from a transport and roads perspective. The Galway ring road will have a very significant impact in terms of the forward planning of Galway city and the Galway metropolitan area. There is constantly a battle between the county towns and the Galway metropolitan area in terms of making sure we have sufficient serviced land within both of those areas.
From a Gaeltacht perspective, we are always aware of the need for serviced land within our Gaeltacht settlements. To be fair, with Spiddal and other settlements coming on line as Uisce Éireann provides wastewater treatment, that has helped. However, there are areas in the Gaeltacht where we will have to look at clustered settlements and servicing those. From a linguistic point of view, there is a very generous policy objective in the current Galway county development plan in respect of making sure our land use policies and housing provision speak to the protection of the language. Our people have been at joint Oireachtas committee meetings in relation to that and I can give the Senator any further detail he wants separately on it.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Conneally. He mentioned the resourcing challenge within the local government sector. Can he provide us with some information and context on the staffing levels that have increased in recent years and what additional resources Galway County Council requires in comparison with the current situation? What percentage increase in staffing is needed based on current levels? Is staff retention also an issue?
Mr. Michael Rainey:
In 2022, an exhaustive resource business case was done within the planning system of local government. As a result, a need was identified for 541 posts. That was to support the system as it stood on that day, without taking into account the additional complexities and work that is coming from the enactment of the new planning Act. That business case was submitted to the Department and accepted by it at the time. Since then, there has been a ministerial action plan on planning resources in which the original business plan is reflected. The ministerial action plan also recognised that the system needed 500-plus posts by the end of 2027 to function. As of today, we have received 220 of those posts, which we are very grateful to the Department for. Notwithstanding that, there is still a shortfall of 300-plus posts to meet the ambition set out in the ministerial action plan. We are continually working with the Department to try to meet that very real need within the planning function, which relates not only to the demands of the variation process, which we are discussing today, but the other very important development management and enforcement functions of local government.
Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for their time. This is a very informative meeting. I am a former member of Galway County Council and it is good to see Mr. Conneally.
I want to focus on affordable housing. In the opening statement there was reference to the councils' role in the delivery of the affordable purchase schemes. What is the difficulty when it comes to delivery of those schemes? The figures I have show that in 2025 the targets for affordable purchase delivery were missed by 55%. I know the witnesses represent mainly rural local authorities and in many rural areas there is an issue with the affordability gain of 15% when it comes to delivering those types of schemes. Will the witnesses speak to that? What are the barriers are and what could be improved around the delivery of those schemes?
Mr. Michael Rainey:
There are very good examples of affordable housing schemes around the country that are working well and for which there is a strong demand. To be blunt, the issue is the market conditions in some local areas. The affordable scheme, as it is presented, does not work financially. It does not work very well. To speak to my own county of Laois, we have multiple schemes that have been in high demand but in other counties, including in the midlands, the market conditions do not exist for the scheme to work in its current format. It is not down to a lack of ambition by the individual local authorities or a lack of support from the Department; it is down to market conditions.
Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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Does that sometimes affect the demand for these schemes when they become available? As Mr. Conneally will know, there was an announcement last week in County Galway of affordable housing in Athenry. The purchase prices do seem quite high, starting out at minimum values from €340,000 to €390,000. Does the pricing affect the demand for these schemes?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
To add to that, given the geographic extent of Galway county, we are finding that the Galway metropolitan area is the area where the viability exists, but once you go beyond that, beyond Athenry and Loughrea and further west, the viability and the 15% become a real issue for us. We have committed in our five municipal districts that the elected members want schemes in each of those municipal districts. Any adjustment to the affordable housing scheme would be gratefully accepted.
Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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I fully agree with those comments. Wastewater and wastewater infrastructure was mentioned as one of the main constraints on delivery of housing. To use an example from County Galway, the Craughwell and Clarinbridge schemes are under the rural water programme. An issue I have seen with them is the co-funding requirement that is on the local authorities, which is a couple of million euro for those schemes. As to whether the local authorities are equipped to deliver these schemes, I am sure they are similar in other local authorities, not just Galway. Will Mr. Conneally comment on the experience of local authorities of those schemes under the rural water programme and explain how they could be improved?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
I will comment on one that I know, namely, the Craughwell-Clarinbridge scheme. We are in discussions with Uisce Éireann in relation to that scheme. We want it to happen. From a Galway perspective, that scheme will deliver significant benefit by collecting from other private wastewater treatment plants. It is not just the villages themselves and the areas around them but also these DPI schemes. From that perspective, it is essential that the scheme happens. As to how it happens, we will be doing it in conjunction with Uisce Éireann. How that manifests itself in terms of scheme funding, project management and eventual delivery is being worked through at the moment. I would prefer not to get into the detail of it here, if the Deputy would not mind. Suffice to say we are in the detail at the moment.
Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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That is 100%. My final question is on the Department's accelerating infrastructure task force. Have members of the CCMA contributed to the work of the task force? What were their main asks?
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
We have been involved in it. We were not on the task force itself but we did contribute and identified issues we felt the system would benefit from, such as multi-year investment envelopes and so on. We are happy that the report of the infrastructure task force is being implemented. We participate in the joint utility task force in the Department of public expenditure and reform. We are actively engaging with all of the various utilities in the Department to identify any blockages that are there and trying to resolve them, be it through processes and changes in procedure or through legislation. It is making progress. We hope to see the benefits of that in the years ahead. We are participating fully. It is hoped it will benefit us all.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Gabhaim míle buíochas leis na finnéithe as teacht isteach inniu. I might have missed this. How much zoned serviced land is there in the State? Do we have a county breakdown?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
On that particular one, we have 15,102 ha of zoned serviceable land. This is maybe as good a shot as we can give it. It varies from 40% in certain local authorities up to 100% in others. There is a median there somewhere. As regards pipes in the ground, it goes slightly below 40%. There is an issue there.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Okay. What are we saying? Are we saying about 60% of the serviceable land, roughly, is serviced and is therefore shovel ready if a builder is in place?
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Would it be possible to give the committee details per local authority?
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Can I ask-----
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That includes the request for an intervention.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Mr. Conneally said they were serviced in some form. Wastewater could be provided but there might not be others. The actual level of serviced land that is shovel ready is far lower than that 15,000 ha. It could be a third of that 15,000 ha.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
It depends. When speaking about serviced land, primarily we would say there is a road to it. There is a footpath capable of being put into it and public lighting as a result of the footpath. It would also include piped water and wastewater. This is a figure on which we reached out to individual local authorities. We were looking at the county of Meath. This is significantly higher than the 68% of servicing in the Deputy's county.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Of serviced land, it is significantly higher. Okay.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Would Mr. Conneally be able to provide information to the committee on serviced land in hectares per county, if possible, even if it is estimates? Will he also provide the units of housing that are likely to go onto a hectare? A hectare is roughly 2.5 acres. He is talking about six to eight houses on a-----
Mr. Liam Conneally:
There is a such a variation in terms of the densities. There is such a difference between the smaller, rural local authorities and the larger city authorities. We are talking about the variation of just over 20 per hectare right up to 120 per hectare. There is a massive variation. I will take the example of master planning zoned lands, where we are looking at the higher end of the density spectrum, the whole community servicing, the public realm and the investments that follow that need to be ready to go in relation to that type of land.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The reason I asked that question is that there is, to a certain extent, significant tension between central government and local authorities with regard to all of this and it is useful for us to be able to quantify exactly where we are in terms of the objectives to build 50,000 or 60,000 homes. The Government has complained about the local authorities. It has whinged and given out and said that local authorities are not doing enough fast enough, so for this committee to have a figure for the quantity of zoned service land available allows us to do our work better.
With regard to Gaeltacht areas, BÁNÚ is saying there is not enough housing available in Gaeltacht areas for Irish speakers. My county has two small Gaeltacht areas in Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib. It is very hard to get building in the likes of Ráth Chairn because the curtilage of the zoned area is quite small in terms of the Gaeltacht. That is an issue.
Local authorities depend significantly on connection fees as a source of revenue in terms of building houses. This weekend, Dublin City Council stated that it wanted housing bodies such as Clúid to pay connection fees for each unit that they build. It is reckoned that there could be €50,000 worth of connection fees and VAT on those homes. The State take out of each unit is quite high and is pushing prices higher for citizens. It is also pushing prices above the viability threshold for some builders. Would it not be better for local authorities to have central government funding for what they need to function and do the work rather than depending on Mary and Joe, who are just trying to buy their first home?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
I will address the Gaeltacht question first and then ask Mr. Kehoe to address the connection fee question. Lest there be any confusion over this, in Galway county, we grant over 90% of our applications for one-off housing. The numbers of houses in the Connemara area are significant. The issue may be whether they are inhabited by Irish-speaking individuals. I agree that there should be settlements or serviced clusters of housing available to the Irish-speaking population. However, looking at the numbers for what has been granted and builds, I do not think it is about a shortage of housing in that particular area.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
Development contributions have been in place for quite a while and have been applied to new development - residential, commercial and industrial. They were designed as a means for the local government sector to claw back some of the value in land that accrued to developers when that land was zoned and they built houses on it. That was the genesis of them.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is an extra cost really. It does not come out of the developer's pocket. It comes out of the homeowner's pocket.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
That is arguable. Quantity surveyors would have a view on that because it is a cost the developer has to take into account when pricing the houses. One could argue which side of the coin it comes from but in any case, it is a capital contribution to local authorities to put in capital infrastructure to serve those developments. We would much prefer to get that capital contribution from the Government and not have to collect it, but we are where we are. We need to put in improved footpaths, cycle ways, parks and open spaces. We are building a lot of new houses and facilitating the construction of houses. There is not a ready income stream to fund the type of infrastructure that is necessary to support those new communities. Capital development contributions are an essential funding source. They also play a part as matched funding for the schemes, where we would apply to Government under urban and village renewal schemes and so on. In the absence of that matched funding, we are not in a position really to avail of those streams for investment in our communities either, so it is essential that we get in those capital contributions. We keep them to a minimum. The numbers cited by the Deputy are very high. I would not think they are average. They are much lower than that in most counties.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the witnesses tell us about the impact of the zoned land tax. Do owners of the property have to give consent for their land to be zoned. What is the impact of this land tax being levied? I am aware of cases where people have sites in towns and villages that would be perfect but they might be older couples and the last thing they want is a bill every year. They might not intend selling it. Maybe in due course, it might pass on to the next generation. They would see having their land zoned as a major levy being imposed on them with regard to land that is not producing any income. Will the witnesses talk to me about that and tell members of the public watching proceedings what the percentage of the land tax will be and when it will start? Has this issue come up with regard to the various zonings and variations?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
It has come up across the sector in different local authorities. It has come up with us as landowners as well, so it is a real live issue for us as a sector. If we are proposing to zone a parcel of land for residential and it is immediately adjacent to existing serviced land, we are not asking the permission of the landowner to zone the land. The answer to that question is "No". We do not ask for that permission.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Are the landowners informed?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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That is no use. An advertisement in a local paper is not adequate in this day and age.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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They do not get a letter in the post from the local authority?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
No. To be fair, I would say nearly all landowners are pretty well informed. With regard to the application of the 3% residential zoned land tax, it is based on the commercial value of the land. If the land is actively used from a commercial perspective, that is, for farming, the residential zoned land tax does not apply.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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If the land is currently actively farmed-----
Mr. Liam Conneally:
If it is actively farmed, in other words, it involves commercial farming activity, or involves other commercial activity, the residential zoned land tax would not apply. Information regard the lands that are subject to residential zoning is being furnished to Revenue on a continuous basis. At any particular point in time, Revenue will be notified of those residential lands for the next year's tax liability. It is a system that obviously puts more work on to the local authorities but it is a system that works and is very effective. It is similar to other revenue collection practices.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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When does it kick in?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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When the witnesses talk about serviceable land, is that technically serviceable or is there a financial part to the assessment? When the witnesses say "serviceable", are they talking about water and wastewater, if required, or roads or electricity?
What do you mean by "services"? Which headings?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
It is where it is contiguous to existing serviced land, in other words, that it is a natural extension of the town, village or city, and where services exist in adjacent sites. Obviously, these will all be assessed from a technical perspective, both planning and engineering, so that we know if it is possible to service that land. That is the serviceable explanation.
Obviously, any designations that are on the sites, for example, if there are environmental or other designations, if there is a flood risk element or so forth, all of that is taken into account. I suppose that is why, if this statutory process is not done properly, it will be challenged on the other side. We want to make sure as local authorities that we stay out of the courts and that we are able to stand over the permissions that we grant on these lands post zoning. That is why this is not a straightforward one-size-fits-all variation of city or county development plans. We are doing it as fast as we can. We are working through complex details in relation to individual local authorities dealing with their own particular issues and we want to make sure that they are legally sound and robust on the other side of the zoning process.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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May I ask a follow-up question?
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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To be clear, Mr. Conneally mentioned to me that included in that serviced zoned land were lands that had been sent to, for example, the activation agency. It may not have any physical infrastructure but it is-----
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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What proportion of that would be in call 1? Would it be 5% or 30%? I am trying to work it out. That 68% includes some future servicing of the land.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That is where it is a little confusing because we want to know what is serviced. How big a proportion of the 68% is call 1? Is it 5%?
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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So, 15%.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
It is in or about that. Such is the significance of the work of the housing activation office. That will tell the Deputy. That is just call 1, and we will be making further funding applications to that. That is a very significant Government funding initiative, from a rural and an urban local authority perspective.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Is the funding on that forthcoming? Is it hard to get?
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I have two brief questions for Mr. Conneally. The variation plan in February that was done by Galway Council created the capacity for 7,500 homes in areas, as Mr. Conneally will be well aware, from Tuam to Barna. What percentage of those homes are in areas that need infrastructural improvements? If Mr. Conneally does not have it, I will understand. He can come back to me on it.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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It will come back through the committee, if the Senator does not mind me saying.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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It is okay. You are marking me tightly this afternoon, a Chathaoirligh.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
This is important public information and I understand the request. Three hundred and five hectares were zoned from R2 to R1 in County Galway and I suppose 35 units per hectare would be a fair account of the densities that would apply across County Galway, given urban and more rural areas. In relation to how many of those hectares are required, I can give the committee the level of detail. We have been very specific in our application to the housing activation office and I can provide that information.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Conneally for the detailed respond. I suppose this next question is probably more generalised across the country. In terms of the infrastructure challenge, has progress been seen over the past 12 to 18 months in Uisce Éireann and the ESB meeting it?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
I have certainly seen a lot of commitments. To be fair, Uisce Éireann has been open and transparent in terms of its capacity audits and what it furnished us. That is very helpful. It has also identified its commitments and priorities in terms of the different schemes. I suppose it is important for us to make sure that our land use and transportation plans align with its capital investment plans. Sometimes, there is not alignment and maybe representations to Uisce Éireann and meetings happen to make sure there is clarity around that, but I am sure it is the same all over the country.
Mr. Kehoe might want to come in on that.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
The CCMA's infrastructure committee works closely enough with Uisce Éireann, the ESB and various other bodies such as Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the National Transport Authority, NTA. The Government decision to invest over €8 billion extra in Uisce Éireann and €13.5 billion in the ESB to provide additional capacity in both organisations is starting to bear fruit in terms of the capital programmes. It is allowing those organisations to plan for growth, which they were not in a position to do previously. They were dealing with historic issues that were putting them under pressure in terms of compliance. These are very positive developments and we will see the benefits of those in the years to come. They are in the pipelines of the capital programmes of those organisations.
Where we need to see further investment from a Government perspective is in transportation, including the road network. The road network carries a significant amount of public transport as well as private transport and it is essential that we get the investment in roads within the towns and villages that will grow over the next ten years. That is really important to support that growth where we want that growth to happen.
Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Kehoe.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I do not mind who answers this. In the witnesses' experience have we built enough infrastructure in the last ten years in their council areas?
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Let us say over-the-ground road. We will keep it simple. I mean bridges, not cycle lanes.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am thinking more of roads. That is what I said.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Yes, roads. It might seem strange to say, but people see less the benefit of wastewater infrastructure even though I know they need it more than the roads. I am thinking of traffic and everything else.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
There has been significant investment - I can speak for my own county - in the intertown road network. The roads have been vastly improved, with improvements in pavements as well.
The investment in public transport has happened to support the growth of the towns. The investment in active travel is now making a significant difference as well in the larger towns where schemes have been brought on.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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What about Galway and Laois, because I would also be conscious of Laois. Mr. Rainey is from Laois, is he not?
Funnily enough, I had the good fortune to be in Laois last night until about 10.30 p.m. I had a meeting from 8 o'clock to 10.30 p.m. for the Fine Gael AGM. All the Fine Gael councillors were there and the key thing they were all talking about was the need for actual infrastructure in places like Stradbally. Portlaoise is one of those towns that has grown a lot. It was probably one of the late-stage growth towns of the Celtic tiger, but there was actually massive growth at the same time. How have the witnesses dealt with that? Is there catch-up still to be played for all those houses that were built in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008? I am very conscious that the crash came and then Covid came, and we are kind of asking what has happened since. That is what I am wondering.
Mr. Michael Rainey:
I would echo what Mr. Kehoe said. There has been good work done but I would probably be more direct in saying that there is a shortfall. There is a need for relief roads, particularly around Portlaoise at the minute. We are very actively looking at what we need now. It is one thing servicing land, but the transport infrastructure requirement needed to service that land is quite significant within the county.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We probably have a heightened version of that in north Kildare. Laois has a commuter element to it, too, in a way it would not have had 40 or 50 years ago. Westmeath has a slight bit. I am sure south-west Meath would probably have some late-stage growth towns as well. I presume Galway would have had a lot; it has been impacted. Galway is historically quite traffic locked, as the witnesses know.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am wondering about that in the context of zoning and then more and more zoning on top of it.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
Honestly, as I said in my opening statement and from the comments of the chief executives today, the zoning is one thing. That is the land use piece, but the transportation piece is critical. The Deputy is right about the need to forward plan on our transportation. I mean private transport, public transport, active travel and all these transport mechanisms to move people from residential land uses to employment locations, recreational locations, shopping locations, etc.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I can take Celbridge as an example, or Newbridge, and I am sure there are plenty in the witnesses' own areas, of where there is a need for a second bridge. A town develops from, say, 2,000 people in 1982 to 23,000 but it still has the same infrastructure.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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It almost seems criminal.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
In response to that, critical infrastructure, such as has been mentioned, should be a key objective in the development plan and the town plans. The county development plan is important to the overall county from a strategic objective, but there should also be clarity in the town plans around where the forward planning for those towns is going and what critical infrastructure is required to enable those towns to grow.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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What we would have done in those situations with planning is put zoning in subject to something being built. I have an example where we did it subject to a road being built in Leixlip. It was through zoning, but when it actually came to the planning, it got planning despite the fact that the zoning was subject to a road being built. However, we were still able to circumnavigate the zoning to actually get planning in Kildare. That actually happened, but it obviously should not have happened.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
I am not going to get into individual sites and issues around sites but normally, from a proper planning and development perspective, which a county or city plan has at its core, there should following the land use be those strategic infrastructure objectives that will make sure it is done correctly and who pays for it then, be it a developer as part of a contribution scheme or development levy or a special development contribution scheme or whether the State pays for it-----
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am conscious of my time. The problem with developer-led infrastructure is that, ultimately, the person who buys the house pays for it because it is all calculated into the profit margin of said site. That is the danger in developer-led infrastructure. If there has been an inability to develop that, what does Mr. Conneally see as the main stumbling block? Is it money? Is it planning? Is it Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, or the National Transport Authority, NTA? Where is the gap? How do we feel or what is the considered opinion as to why we have not been able to do those things?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
When we are making development plans, that is, individual local authorities, and the chief executive's report goes before the elected members in respect of all those public submissions, they are vetted from a public perspective. TII, the NTA and those prescribed bodies have a key input to that development plan-making exercise. They should be front and centre in terms of the key objectives. Mr. Rainey might want to come in on the specifics in relation to that.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, would have helped in the past.
Mr. Michael Rainey:
That is really welcome. A figure of €1 billion has been allocated now in Government funding to activate this and provide those essential infrastructure and transport linkages, which constitute most of it, that will allow us to improve what the Deputy is describing. It is not just a matter of developing housing estates. We have to make sure we are getting the transport linkages correct. We welcome the fund. We welcome the engagement from the housing activation office that we have had locally. I will say, and the Deputy will probably have experience of this, that there is a lot of interest in that fund from the 31 local authorities. We have all made significant applications into that fund and we await the results of it.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I will ask one last question, if the Chair does not mind. I come from a municipal district, MD, where I was a councillor for a long time. Our MD was essentially two local area plan areas. Leixlip had a local area plan and Celbridge had a local area plan. The county development plan, to me as a councillor, was almost less pertinent to my specific area. I had two huge local area plans. I had two heavyweight local area plans through my time, whereas Ardclough, as a smaller area, was where the county development plan really mattered. We did our business in the local area plan. How does Mr. Conneally feel settlement plans compare with local area plans? Obviously, as someone who has dealt with the local area plans - I will hopefully never get to deal with a settlement area plan - how does Mr. Conneally see them differ? What is the loss or the gain? What are the positives and negatives of the settlement plan versus the local area plan?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 has been commenced, which provides for front-loading forward planning into the system. In other words, the town and county and city development plan objectives are set out in a very clear way and the subsets of those plans obviously have to respect the city or county development plan, which in turn respects the NDP and everything above it.
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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At the same time, does Mr. Conneally feel a settlement plan is as good as a local area plan?
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am referring to the local area plan, which has gone now, versus the new settlement plan. Which is better?
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I will mention two issues. Flood plains is obviously a topic that comes up everywhere. Each of the witnesses has probably encountered this, so they might give a quick comment on zoning and pressure to build on zoned land. Do they look for flooding or whether an area is likely to flood in 50 years, 100 years or 1,000 years? How does anyone predict these things? They are probably similar, but the witnesses might give me three different perspectives or outline the difficulties or practicalities? People are under pressure, and developers are always looking to build. They would build on top of you if they could.
Mr. Liam Conneally:
The key difference between now and in the past is that we have flood risk management plans. We have our own development plans, which are vetted through a proper flood risk management system, and knowledge through the Office of Public Works and other agencies that we did not have in previous plan-making exercises.
It is a far better to plan with the knowledge of what floods, what does not and what is at risk of flooding. That gives planners and elected members clear sight of what they are doing in making plans. It makes development planning and plan making more certain and more useful from a development and building perspective.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Will the witnesses comment on the practicalities of dealing with flood plains? I am sure there are people who will say they have been in an area for 80 years and it has never flooded. We hear that type of comment. I would say the witnesses' perspectives will be similar but they may be different.
Mr. Michael Rainey:
There is a long history of flooding in Westmeath, particularly in Athlone and some other parts of the county. People, including ourselves, elected members and the general public, have learned that building on flood plains is not an option. We have no resistance to not zoning land that is at risk of flooding. The test we apply for residential development is 1,000 years. That is set out by the OPW.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Will the witnesses explain that to the public? Who knows what is going to happen in 1,000 years? That is the simple question Joe or Josephine Soap would ask.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
Nobody knows but it means that, based on the experience and record of flooding in the past, the chances of a particular piece of land flooding this year is one in 1,000. That is a very low risk of flooding. We have maps that show such lands. The OPW has maps that show lands that risk flooding once in 100 years and once in 1,000 years. There is very little difference between the two sets of maps. There is not a load of land in the once in 1,000 years category that is not in the once in 100 years category. There is not a massive difference there. We are very strong and diligent on identifying those lands and not zoning them for residential purposes. They are amenable to other uses, however. These lands are sometimes close to villages and towns. If it is towards the 1,000 years category and the lands do not flood very much, which is to say they flood to a low level very occasionally, they may be suitable for playing pitches or recreational areas. If they flood every 30 or 40 years, it is not a big issue and the lands could be available for public use the rest of the time. We look at uses the land might be amenable to in those cases. I am glad to say we do not have a difficulty there.
Mr. Michael Rainey:
I have absolute confidence that the same diligence Mr. Kehoe has described as regards flood risk analysis is also to be seen within the planning system in Laois. There is now a good understanding among the elected body of the importance of not developing on flood plains. They understand the flood mapping and trust in it. Equally, there is an understanding that those lands can be used for other purposes, such as recreational purposes, as Mr. Kehoe has described. There is a lot of understanding and knowledge of flood risk and flood plains within our planning department. There is a very good data set to rely on.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I have a last question for each of the local authorities. When the authorities were developing their current variation or last development plan, did the ESB, Uisce Éireann, the OPW or other public bodies or utilities make submissions? I am asking about each of the three. I would imagine they would. They would be notified whether they make a submission or not. Do they wait until they are asked when a particular development comes up or do they actively contribute and make submissions? I ask each of the three authorities to share their experiences. We have been talking a lot about servicing lands. Do these bodies, which are charged with carrying out that servicing, make submissions during these processes?
Mr. Michael Rainey:
Equally, they do make submissions in Laois. I have noticed that there has been a lot of really good engagement outside of that process in recent years. For example, we meet with the ESB every six weeks to resolve issues and to share knowledge. There is good engagement with utilities both at the local level and at the national level through Mr. Kehoe's committee.
Mr. Barry Kehoe:
We have a long history of engagement with Uisce Éireann. As the Cathaoirleach will know, it was part of the system until 2014. We also deal with the various other utilities locally. The system overall would benefit from more advanced notice of those utilities' plans for development within our counties. We should be notified as early as possible so that we can recognise their objectives and development plans in our own plans. That would make it easier for everybody to understand what is coming and to plan better for future development.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Would that include TII, the NTA and all of these?
Mr. Liam Conneally:
If I may make one last comment on the importance of the utilities and prescribed bodies feeding into the city and county development plan making process, we are about to embark on the making of ten-year city and county development plans. It was always important but it is now absolutely critical that those utilities and prescribed bodies are involved in the making of development plants as they are to run on a ten-year cycle. The information they bring to the table will be critical with regard to land use quantums, zoning and infrastructure provision. From that perspective, we welcome the ten-year plan cycle but it will involve key engagements, and the Cathaoirleach has leaned on utilities, prescribed bodies and so on.
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for their contributions today and for assisting the committee in our work. If members have requested any information that was not available today - I do not think there was too much of that - I ask that it be provided to the committee within two weeks. If there any issues the witnesses want to clarify, they can do so through the secretariat. There being no other business, the committee now stands adjourned until 13 May 2026.