Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

That is an issue, as any voluntary group cannot afford to pay huge prices. I accept it is a difficulty. That was a reason for the State lands initiative. Local authorities should try to give some of their land. The committee chaired by Des Geraghty, in the context of the affordable housing initiative but it has a wider application, said that where there is much land that is not zoned, community zoning would be a simple system. It has been picked this up from what is happening in some councils in the UK, where land which is derelict but zoned as open space could be rezoned, but only for community purposes. It is a simple operation.

The proposal has been put, the Department of the Environment and Local Government has gone with it and it has been discussed with some local authorities. There is no reason the idea could not be used nationally, as it would give an incentive to zone land exclusively for community use. People would support the idea on that basis, but if it was for private development people would not support it. This is a way to deal with such matters and to keep the price low.

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