Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 597: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will report on all State land in the Meath County Council area to include land audit figures from Meath County Council. [35512/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not maintain a register of State land. However, the Office of Public Works has compiled an electronic database of property holdings based on information supplied by Departments and agencies. This has assisted in developing the affordable housing initiative, a key aspect of which is the identification and disposal of State land by various Departments and agencies for affordable housing projects. In the case of Meath, land at the military camp in Gormanston has been made available to the initiative by the Minister for Defence, and Meath County Council has provided land at four sites throughout the county.

Aside from State lands, my Department carries out a survey of the total amount of serviced land zoned for residential purposes, owned both privately and by local authorities. This survey is valuable in assessing the overall stock of land at the same point each year, and the sufficiency of that stock to underpin required housing supply.

Details from this survey in June 2004 indicated that Meath County Council proposed to service 1,778 hectares of residentially zoned lands by June 2010, which would be capable of providing at least 54,000 units. These details are included in the Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletin, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and also published on the Department's website at www.environ.ie.