John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The national regeneration development agency will have a role in respect of land for social and affordable housing delivery. The idea is to bring together relevant Departments and agencies in order to unlock the potential for State landbanks and to ensure the best allocation for funding.

I return to the development plans set in all areas and regions. They deal with landbanks that are available from all agencies. If the Deputy logs on to the web page, he can select by county, town, land address and hectares available. I can send him the details for his area and all the areas in Ireland, which shows the land available. Contrary to what the indications are it may look substantial but it would be a failure on our behalf with the economy growing and the long-term development of our economy that we would not have substantial landbanks available for multinational foreign direct investment companies and other companies that might want to set up in regional areas. They Deputy is correct that there is a balance in making landbanks available for housing and making landbanks available for jobs in particular areas of the country.

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