Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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188. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to review regulations regarding the operation of the land aggregation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15044/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Land Aggregation Scheme was introduced in 2010 as part of revised arrangements for the funding of land for social housing purposes. The primary purpose of the Scheme was to assist in the gradual unwinding of loans taken out by housing authorities to purchase land for the social and affordable housing investment programme. Applications to the value of some €163 million in loans were accepted into the Land Aggregation Scheme.

Local Authorities were notified of the discontinuance of the Land Aggregation Scheme, with respect to new applications, in 2013. The focus of the Scheme has now shifted to the management and utilisation of the lands included in the Scheme. The Housing Agency has been tasked with developing an extensive Land Management Strategy under which land transferred to the Agency under the Land Aggregation Scheme will be considered. The development of this strategy is being progressed in the context of the Social Housing Strategy 2020.

The Housing Agency, in consultation with my Department and local authorities, is updating data and developing a more extensive and detailed database and GIS map of all local authority owned lands, as well as the Land Aggregation Scheme lands showing their location, size, boundaries and other information. This map will be up-dated over the course of the Strategy to record the development and use of lands.

Accordingly, both lands that have been transferred to the Housing Agency and other local authority held lands suitable for housing development will be among the first sites considered in order to support the implementation of the Social Housing Strategy 2020.