Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter. It is a particularly important matter for me. I also thank the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy English, for coming to the House to discuss it. The Minister of State will be familiar with Shanganagh Castle but I will clarify some matters for those who are not.

Shanganagh Castle and its surrounding land of 28 acres were sold by the Department of Justice and Equality when Senator McDowell was the Minister in that Department. The council purchased 21 acres for €9 million and a further 6.3 acres comprising the period house, which is a protected structure, and surrounding grounds. What has happened since 2002? We are experiencing a housing crisis, as the Minister of State knows better than most, yet there is an issue with Shanganagh Castle. I acknowledge the work of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillors who, on a cross-party basis, have worked well together despite a number of obstacles and frustrations to try to get this site up and running. We talk about Rebuilding Ireland and tackling affordable and social housing, yet there is frustration that this site is not coming on stream. The Minister and Minister of State are committed but somehow there is a blockage with this site.It cannot be tolerated that we have such a blockage for an asset that is zoned and potentially ready for development, although I accept there are a number of infrastructural issues that need to be addressed. We have a housing crisis, nowhere more so than in Dún Laoghaire. There are thousands of people on social housing lists and while this applies to the whole country, it is particularly acute in an area where property prices are exorbitant - the highest in the country, as records will show.

I want to know who is funding this project and at what stage of development it is. Will this site be hived off to the Land Development Agency or any other agency? What is happening? The Minister of State and the Department owe it to the elected members to clarify what is going on. The Department owes it to the chief executive and the staff in the housing and planning departments of the council to explain what its plans are. It is getting harder to keep going back to people to say there is a delay with this massive site in Shanganagh, one of the finest sites for residential use in the country, as I believe the Minister of State will agree, having been there. When is it going to happen? What is the timeline for this to start? When will we see JCBs on the ground? What is the model that will be used and is the Department working with the council on this issue? How much will be social housing and how much affordable housing? All of those issues need to be addressed but there is a lack of clarity. I spoke to the elected members as recently as yesterday. There is absolute frustration as to what is going on between the executive, the elected members and the Department. All three need to come together to give greater clarity on how we can deliver much-needed affordable and social housing on this key site. I would appreciate a comprehensive overview of the timelines and funding commitments from the Minister of State.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Boyhan for raising the issue. It is a very important site. I got the guided tour from Councillor John Bailey and Deputy Maria Bailey over a year ago and I had a good look at it. I also met with council officials to look at various sites in the area. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has also visited the area.

We are very conscious of the importance of this area for delivering housing, whether social, affordable or private, in particular at this key site, which the State has invested in and which the local authority owns. It is important that we put it to good use. I am as eager as the Senator to see this and other prime local authority sites developed as quickly as possible. The Minister and I are determined to see the Shanganagh site deliver to its full potential and we would like that done as quickly as possible. It is a key housing authority asset that must be mobilised for the sustainable development not only of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown but of Dublin as a whole. We are all on the same page. I met elected representatives from different parties, who all see this as a valuable site. It is important we focus on its development.

While the development of any residential land in housing authority ownership is, in the first instance, a matter for the local authority concerned, including its elected members, we need to see new social and affordable homes realised from State housing land without delay, with particular emphasis on prioritising those sites with the greatest potential to deliver housing at scale in the short to medium term. Shanganagh is such a site and it can deliver the scale. While the Senator is right that there are infrastructural issues, it is my strong belief and that of the Department that infrastructural issues can be solved and addressed in parallel with the construction of houses. That is the way we have to approach these sites. It is very positive that the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council members have come together, on a cross-party basis, with a view to achieving the optimal housing outcome for this site, which can deliver over 500 new homes on a mixed-tenure basis.

The options for the delivery and financing of social housing are well established and understood at this stage. The Minister and I have made it clear that direct Exchequer funding is available for any social housing element of this mixed-tenure development. Again, we have been very clear with the councils and housing officials that the moneys are there, that we want a strong pipeline of projects and that we want delivery. Targets are set for each local authority and we are out there looking for a further pipeline of projects to be delivered this year, next year and the year after. We cannot be any clearer than that. The resources are there to make it happen across a range of mechanisms and schemes.

In terms of affordable housing, affordable purchase can be pursued in accordance with the provisions of Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which are now commenced. This is a suitable site for affordable housing. The scheme is well defined in the Act and this will be followed up with associated regulations and guidance in the weeks ahead.

With regard to affordable rental, the Minister is determined that cost rental will become a major part of our rental landscape in the future. It is clear there is a gap between social housing rental and the private rental market that needs to be filled. Cost rental can make a sustainable impact on housing affordability, competitiveness and the attractiveness of our main urban centres as places to live and work. Importantly, unlike affordable purchase, cost rental homes remain available in local authority ownership and can be allocated as affordable units in the long term. Furthermore, they also provide an income stream that can be re-invested in more affordable housing or land. Again, this is a suitable site for any of these options.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is leading the way on cost rental, working with the Housing Agency and a number of approved housing bodies, which is welcome. I commend the council on the signing of agreements on the pilot project at Enniskerry Road. I understand the tenders were opened yesterday, so the development of that site is imminent. I am glad this is the case because there has been a focus on it for a while.

In order to support local authorities to get their sites ready for affordable housing, additional funding is being provided for enabling infrastructure via the serviced sites fund, for which €310 million has been allocated for the next couple of years. While the Shanganagh site was not included in the first call after the Minister in June asked local authorities to submit proposals under the serviced sites initiative, we expect it will feature in a future call, once the infrastructural masterplan is available. Again, I stress it is quite possible in today's world to develop infrastructure and housing at the same time, so they are both ready to be used at the same time.

Woodbrook-Shanganagh is also a designated major urban housing development site. In recognition of this, we have committed funding of just over €4 million under the local infrastructure housing activation fund to build public infrastructure which will open up the site for early development. In terms of moving this on, I understand a number of options have been examined. My Department is working with the council and the NDFA to compare the development approaches for the site - in fact, they are meeting again this afternoon - and a project board is in place to drive delivery. The Minister and I, no more than the Senator, want to ensure we make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the development right. There are a number of different housing types that can be used there and the sooner it happens, the better, as far as we are concerned.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. The key question is when JCBs will be on this site. There is a suggestion there will be no development on this site until 2022, which is a long time away. This has to be a priority. I ask that the Minister of State would keep his eye on the ball, which I do not doubt he will. I will email this to the 40 members within minutes as I think it is that important. They are keen but there is a deficit of information. I acknowledge the excellent work of the Department, in particular Mary Hurley and her staff, who do an extraordinary job in very difficult circumstances. I ask the Minister of State to commit to keeping his eye on the ball and giving us some indication as to the progress with this job. Can he outline his understanding of when building will actually start on this site? Has he a date in mind or does he know the date we expect a JCB to go onto that site and start delivering affordable and social housing?

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for his focus on this site, and I thank the others involved as well. To be fair, it is an issue Deputy Bailey raises on a weekly basis with both our housing delivery team, under Mary Hurley's guidance, and our planning section. The two sections of the Department are very much focused on this site and I have had engagement there as well because we want to see it happen. I cannot give the Senator the exact date that a JCB will go onto that site. However, I see absolutely no reason it would possibly take until 2022. I have made it very clear on many occasions that infrastructural issues can be solved in parallel with the construction of houses on sites, and that is where we have to focus. This is a local authority controlled site and I cannot dictate the start date. All I can say is that we will fully support the local authority, whatever scheme it chooses to use. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has one project that we like and it is involved in many others as well. It is a pressure area and there are opportunities there. This is a key site and, as a Department, we are fully ready across a range of measures to make it happen, the sooner, the better.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I am sure Senator Boyhan will be back to the Minister of State if there are not diggers there by 1 June next year.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Next week, not next year.