Dáil debates

Thursday, 14 November 2019

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Land Development Agency

10:50 am

Photo of Kevin  MoranKevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The OPW is a huge property owner, but a lot of the land it holds incorporates heritage sites, monuments and castles. The Deputy has asked if we have further land to transfer. As I said, in the first instance, we make land available. It is then up to the local authorities and the HSE to decide whether they wish to acquire it. Some of our land has been transferred to local authorities and we have seen different projects taking place. In the case of other land, there have been no other requests received from any agency or Department because of where the land is located. In the past we have seen sprawling developments outside towns where there was no proper infrastructure or services provided to maintain them. We do not want to go down that road again in the supply of local authority housing. The Deputy will be aware that most of the OPW's land is in the wilds of Ireland and incorporates heritage sites which, in some cases, are not suitable for the housing developments proposed by him. As I said to him, the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and I have met on a number of occasions. We have made available to him any land that he has requested us to transfer. I reiterate that some of the OPW's land does not meet the requirements for the supply of housing.

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