Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The LDA will exist for 15, 20 or 25 years and will provide hundreds of thousands of new homes. We did not waste time getting it established. I established it under the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971 and made €20 million available to it. An interim board and chairperson have been appointed, we have just finished the competition for a CEO and we are hiring staff. As I noted earlier, given that public land is involved, is the transfer of land to the legal entity necessary? The agency is already examining sites and will soon submit planning applications. It has not needed to own the sites to do that. The Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, for example, is in the process of being decanted but we will not wait for the site to be fully decanted before we examine what we want to do. We are already there looking at it. Once the site has been decanted by the Department of Health, we can move straight into construction. That is how the LDA is approaching the matter. This does not mean that the legislation is not a priority; of course it is. We want to get the full capitalisation into the LDA, provide as many of the powers in respect of compulsory purchase orders and so on, and address issues with lobbying, transparency and accountability to the Oireachtas. All such steps need to be taken, which is why the legislation is important and it is a priority to publish it this term. I want to get it enacted in the first half of next year and the €1.25 billion funding in licence.

As for the site at Balbriggan, if the Deputy wishes to ask about individual sites, tabling a question for written reply might be more helpful. Based on the plan I have to hand and the information I have from the agency, the number of units it hopes to provide is between 800 and 1,000, in a phased way. It is moving efficiently in respect of the plan for the site.

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