Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for the Environment; Heritage and Local Government the financial implications for the Exchequer if he establishes another land owning agency, the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency, to acquire local government land loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22407/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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In April 2010, my Department advised housing authorities of revised arrangements for the funding of land used for social housing and sought information from them on local authority residential land holdings for the purpose of ensuring the optimal use of the lands in question.

Where loans are due to mature before the end of 2010 and where it is considered that the land involved is unlikely to be developed in the short to medium term, authorities have been given the option to apply to my Department to recoup the cost of outstanding loans on the land. Subject to available funding my Department may pay off the costs of the land and transfer ownership to a central agency. Functions in relation to the transfer of land in these particular circumstances will initially be undertaken by the National Building Agency. Some land banks may continue to be available for social housing if housing projects are advanced by authorities under the social housing investment programme, while others may be made available for alternative use, including non-housing and community infrastructure purposes.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Will primary legislation be required to achieve the objective the Minister of State set out? I suspect it will in regard to merging some of the agencies. How soon can we expect to see that legislation? What will be the exposure of the Exchequer to further land loans or has the Minister carried out an inventory of what he expects to transfer from local authorities to NAMA through this agency? Will an opportunity arise from this decision to generate internal capital receipts in local authorities which are starved of finance currently for essential work to achieve objectives on housing, decisions on waste water and implementation of those programmes? Does the Minister envisage that we will be able to free up some moneys in each local authority to achieve other objectives arising from this decision?

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has put three questions. First, legislation is not necessary in the short term. The people in the Housing Finance Agency will act on behalf of the Government with a special agency property company but legislation will be needed. We have not decided on the precise form of the legislation as to whether it will be a separate Bill or part of another Bill.

There is not a cost involved. It will be a transfer of public properties and loans from one area, namely, the local authority to the central agency.

On the Deputy's third question about internal receipts, if lands are not developed local authorities must continue to meet the loan charges. If they transfer ones that are due in 2010 we will meet the loan charge at that time. They will be in a position to recoup at that time whereas they would not be in a position to recoup until they developed under the circumstances of the original loan they got from the HFA.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister carried out any inventory of the lands involved? What quantity of lands are we talking about?

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know the amount of lands involved that will be transferred because it is a voluntary transfer from the local authorities. I can give the Deputy the figure for the amount of land currently owned by local authorities which is approximately €650 million nationally. Some local authorities may decide to transfer loans to the central agency. We are compiling that. We gave a date of the end of April to have their requests submitted. Some are still in discussions with our Department and we have not compiled the amount but I hope to have that information some time in the near future.