Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted the Minister, Deputy O'Brien is here. The Land Development Agency is a way forward for building houses. The LDA, however, must work with the other agencies. Every city and small town in Ireland is looking for houses to be built. This cannot be random house building but a vision for a long-term view of the cities, towns and villages. Population is increasing and there is a demand now more than ever for green spaces for children and families where they live.

We need the experience of the LDA, and I see the agency filling a role along with the councils and, in Limerick, with the Limerick Twenty Thirty plan. Limerick is fortunate to have an active council. There are 40 councillors within Limerick's county and city councils, with 21 on the city council and 19 on the county council, but the Land Development Agency is only looking at lands in the city. This is my concern. I represent County Limerick. On many occasions I have raised the lack of infrastructure within our towns and villages. As I have said, there is a space for the Land Development Agency but it must cover all of our counties. It must work with Limerick city and county councils. It must work with groups such as the Limerick Twenty Thirty plan, which has started to build houses in Mungret, with families going into properties where they can afford to live. When I look outside the city and see the lands the LDA has said it will not look at, it is because there is no infrastructure.

My job as a public representative for Limerick is to work for all of Limerick. I understand that to have a vibrant county, we needs to have a vibrant city, but the last agency we had in Limerick was for the regeneration, as referred to by Deputy O'Donnell earlier. That did not work. If anything it caused mayhem within the city and the county. We are dubious about what the LDA will do. If a commitment can be put in place whereby the LDA has to work with our local authorities and must work with the likes of our Limerick Twenty Thirty group and other agencies to bring houses for the city and the county, then I would welcome that. What is being put out there at the moment, however, is that the Land Development Agency says it does not have to talk to the local authorities and that it does not have to talk to any other agencies, that it is an agency itself.

I have been in construction all my life and I have seen the pitfalls. From sitting on the council and from being in construction I have seen the pitfalls of how things happen. I am referring to Limerick. We need to make sure the vision caters for the young, the old and the vulnerable, and that it covers all of those. We do not want high-rise apartments. We do not want people crammed in. Consider the Colbert Station development in Limerick where it is hoped to build 2,000 units. This plan was recommended to the LDA by Limerick City and County Council. The executive of the LDA has a good relationship with Limerick City and County Council but it is being put out that one is fighting the other. Yes, the councillors in the area have concerns with the plan because of its amalgamation between city and county. They see it as very city oriented.

I raised the issue recently of the water services between city and county. Some 60% of the people in our city and county have inadequate water, with 73% of the city and county - but mainly the county - with inadequate sewerage. Not everyone wants to live in the city. My biggest concern with the LDA is that is would be completely city-based. We need to make sure our towns and villages have the connectivity and the sewerage so they can be part of this plan and that it would be an overall plan, and if it is to be in a rural development, that the councils would work to get in the services to the county areas.

It cannot just be about cities.

It has been proven time and again that the councils cannot get through the bureaucracy to get the required 60,000 houses per annum built. If we look at the dereliction in our cities and towns, a lot can be achieved in them if we rebuild the streetscapes. It was said here in the Dáil that even in Dublin 60% of properties over the main floor are empty. That is because of the regulations and stipulations that have been put in place for years through planning laws. If we look in the county, the situation is similar. For the LDA to work, it cannot be city-based. It needs to invest in the counties. It needs to invest in infrastructure and that includes bus and rail services. There are old railway lines running through the county that can be brought back in play similar to what we are looking for with regard to Foynes, but we have to make sure it covers all of the county. Anything that comes from industry and infrastructure in the county of Limerick is moving west. We cannot allow that to happen. It has to cover the entire county.

We need to look also at people who are hoarding land and properties. We need to make sure they are either incentivised to bring them out of dereliction and use them or they are penalised for not doing that if there is a need in that area.

I have said previously that Irish Water is a failed identity but we need to work to put a management in place to ensure Irish Water delivers in terms of infrastructure for our areas. I call on the agencies to get the builders and developers to build houses because, as I said earlier, so much bureaucracy has been put in place the councils cannot build houses. There is a role for the LDA to build houses. We need houses built but we also need a vision for our city and for the county. That vision is that anyone in the area should be entitled to live wherever they want within a town or village. Everyone in this country has their culture. I am from the county and they call us culchies. I am proud to be one. I am delighted to have the room and the clean air that allows me do what I have to do. I look at places where connectivity is badly needed. From the point of view of the LDA, if this happens on a city basis only, it will destroy the towns and villages for more than one reason. For any town and village to survive it needs footfall. If they want to invest in putting in a shop or a butcher’s, it has to have footfall and connectivity to attract people to live there. It has to have infrastructure.

I spoke to the council yesterday and I was told the only projects it is looking at are ones where the infrastructure is already in place. Only a couple of towns around our county have the infrastructure in place to allow them build, that is, Kilmallock, Croom and Newcastle West. All the other places do not seem to have any infrastructure. Patrickswell and all those places have it. However, investment is needed in areas outside of those but it must be long term. People want to see their GAA, soccer, football and camogie teams, but all of those cannot be sustained if they do not have the proper infrastructure in place and the proper investment.

We do not want the LDA to be a runaway train. We had regeneration in Limerick and it created havoc in the city and county that took years to straighten out. We need a vision, infrastructure and collaboration involving the LDA, the local authorities and, in my own case, agencies such as the Limerick Twenty Thirty that have a vision for each individual county. That will make it a complete package for each individual county and we can all grow together.

Deputy O’Donnell mentioned section 8 earlier. We need to make sure that when the Land Development Agency is disposing of land, it has to consult the Minister, but if it disposing of houses it does not have to do that. We need to make sure that whatever the Land Development Agency does, the Minister has to be at the forefront of it to ensure it is protecting individual areas. He has to make sure the local authorities and the councillors who have a vision and are elected to represent their areas are represented.

I am looking forward to seeing what can be done. I am looking forward to seeing everything being put in place and amendments made to this Bill that will make sure we do not have another runaway train in Limerick. We need somebody who will work with the agencies and the local authorities collectively to make sure we have a vision for Limerick that is sustainable not only for the city but for the county.

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