Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators for raising the matter. The identification and disposal of State land by various Departments and Government agencies for affordable housing is part of the affordable housing initiative. As the House is aware, this initiative was included as part of one of the ten special initiatives in the Sustaining Progress partnership agreement. The initiative is aimed at those who in the past would have expected to purchase a house from their own resources but find that they are unable to do so in the current housing market. The purpose of the initiative is to provide 10,000 affordable housing units through the release of State and local authority lands and through the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2004.

Significant progress continues to be made on the initiative, with more than 70 projects on State and local authority lands planned, which together with a projected 2,500 affordable housing units under Part V gives the 10,000-unit target proposed by the parties to the pay agreement. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government monitors all projects with a view to ensuring early delivery of units.

Under the initiative, the Minister for Agriculture and Food released 22 hectares of land in Athenry. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has engaged with Galway County Council to progress this project. I understand the council proposes to develop an initial phase of approximately 60 affordable housing units on approximately two of the 22 hectares of the site. To this end, preparatory work, including planning consultations, design and trial holes, surveys, etc., has been carried out on this portion of the site. An application for Part 8 approval under the planning regulations was advertised last week. This portion of the site will now go through the normal planning process.

The balance of the Athenry lands, measuring approximately 20 hectares, is the subject of a local area plan and will continue to be on public display until the first week in December. I understand the council will be discussing the outcome of the public consultation process at its December meeting. The use of this portion of the site for the initiative will be assessed in the light of the local area plan process. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will work with the council to ensure the most effective use of the site. The Senators will be aware that the Government released State lands to the initiative in various tranches and late last year agreed to the release of a series of Health Service Executive lands, some of which are in the County Galway area.

The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Seán Power, in an Adjournment debate in the Dáil on 9 November, indicated that the Health Service Executive is engaged in a process of reviewing the implications of releasing the County Galway sites to the initiative in the context of planned health services development. These may be the sites in Tuam and Ballinasloe mentioned by the Senators. I understand this review will be completed shortly and the outcome of the review will be communicated to both the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and the Department of Health and Children.

These lands are also being examined by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in consultation with the council, to determine their suitability for the initiative. While the possibility of using lands in some areas has been mentioned, it has not got down to the hard detail of how many sites or how many hectares. Matters did not develop very far. The HSE is reviewing the implications of its previous commitment. My interest is from the point of view of affordable housing. The other land that has been donated from Departments and Government agencies is not bought but is transferred to the affordable housing initiative. No payment would be made in those circumstances for any Health Service Executive development. While the HSE never firmly agreed how much land we would get, it is reconsidering what it is likely to give bearing in mind its own needs.

I will continue to ensure that all projects under the initiative are progressed as speedily as possible with the aim of having the earliest possible delivery of affordable units. We are awaiting the outcome of the deliberations of the HSE regarding those three or four parcels of land in County Galway that were mentioned as possible candidates for the affordable housing initiative.