Seanad debates

Friday, 9 July 2021

Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

9:30 am

Photo of Jerry ButtimerJerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This is important legislation. It is about ensuring we deliver affordable housing on publicly-owned lands. The hypocrisy of those voting against this Bill should be laid clear for everybody. They are opposing the sale and building of housing on public lands for citizens of our country.This is what the Opposition is doing in opposing the Bill. As has Senator Burke, I have misgivings about the LDA but I welcome the change that gives more power to local councillors and I thank the Minister of State and the Minister for doing this as it was not in the original Bill.

In Cork, we have a wonderful site at St. Kevin's with a proposal for 266 new homes. It is an ambitious project that must be delivered. The Minister of State was in Cork this week and I commend him on that visit and the work he is doing regarding a particular project. The synergy between the local authority, the executive, our councillors, the Department and the LDA must be about working together. Senator Burke is correct. I believe NAMA was a gargantuan error and it made significant errors and we must learn from it with the Land Development Agency.

If I heard Senator Warfield correctly in his contribution, he said he was opposed to another quango but I thought, and I am open to correction, he asked to have two new quangos created instead of one.

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