Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. First, it is encouraging to note recent media reports which suggest that the receiver has agreed to enter into negotiations with Dublin City Council on the provision of affordable housing on the site with the aim of entering into a binding agreement which will result in the provision of additional affordable units. I wish the parties well in their discussions and I know that the Minister, Deputy Murphy, and his Department are ready and available to support and encourage such engagement by providing the necessary policy clarity at the relevant and appropriate time.

It is worth clarifying that the Minister’s role in relation to the planning system is primarily to provide the policy and legislative framework to which planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála are obliged to have regard in the exercise of their statutory planning functions. Therefore, in respect of the appeal which has been made in relation to the planning scheme for the Poolbeg SDZ, it is ultimately a matter for An Bord Pleanála to determine this appeal and neither the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government nor his Department can be involved in the case.

It is very important for the public to know, however, that his Department has consistently supported engagement on the development of Poolbeg west in order to ensure the level of social housing delivered on this site is far in excess of the 350 or so homes that would be ordinarily delivered through Part V of the Planning Act. For example, the observations made by the Minister’s Department on the draft planning scheme are very clear on this point and also clearly signal that there could be no compulsion about such matters. Such arrangements would have to be progressed in the context of an agreement that would detail the various funding, delivery and value for money considerations that apply in the ordinary course of such matters parallel to, but separate from, the finalisation and consideration of the planning merits of the scheme. The negotiations currently under way and the appeal process to An Bord Pleanála do not alter this position.

The Minister, Deputy Murphy’s Department remains committed to working with the city council, any relevant approved housing bodies and either the receiver or developers of the SDZ area in securing additional social and affordable housing from this site over and above Part V obligations and at the scale proposed in the adopted planning scheme, but subject to agreement on all the normal relevant terms including value for money aspects. It is, therefore, for the relevant parties using the array of social housing delivery mechanisms supported by the Minister's Department, including capital and current funded programmes delivered through the local authorities and approved housing bodies, to realise the potential for this site including enhanced social housing delivery.

As I said at the outset, the Minister wishes all parties well in these discussions and he is hopeful that a resolution will be reached in the short term to pave the way for the development of the Poolbeg west SDZ, realising the much needed housing mix that it promises to deliver. Whatever the result of the hearing currently under way, the Minister would like to assure the local community of his continued commitment to ensuring that the commitments regarding social and affordable housing will be met.