Written answers

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Housing Provision

Photo of John CurranJohn Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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312. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government following the publication of his action plan for housing and homelessness four months ago the status of the progress made to date on action 2.7 to enhance land management and utilise land to the greatest extent possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35057/16]

Photo of John CurranJohn Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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334. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government following the publication of his action plan for housing and homelessness four months ago the status of the progress made to date on action 3.5 to prepare a national land supply management strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35079/16]

Photo of John CurranJohn Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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348. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government following the publication of his action plan for housing and homelessness four months ago the status of the progress made to date on action 4.12 to carry out an assessment of scope for provision of additional student accommodation on local authority or other publicly owned lands; when this assessment will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35098/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 312, 334 and 348 together.

The active pursuit of progressing housing developments on State lands, including local authority lands, is a major part of the new approach to housing provision under Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.

Rebuilding Ireland contains a number of integrated actions to underpin State land supply management, including the preparation of a Strategic Management Plan for the sites under the Land Aggregation Scheme (Action 2.7); the development of a National Land Supply Management Strategy (Action 3.5), within the context of the new National Planning Framework; and an assessment of the scope for the provision of additional student accommodation on local authority or other publicly- owned lands (Action 4.12).

In accordance with the timelines outlined in Rebuilding Ireland, the Housing Agency is preparing a Strategic Management Plan for all Land Aggregation Scheme sites which will be completed in the first Quarter of 2017. The broader National Land Supply Management Strategy is being developed with in the context of the National Planning Framework which is due to be finalised by mid- 2017.

In this regard, my Department has commenced work on assembling data on the location and availability of local authority or other publicly owned lands for the purpose of the provision of new housing, including additional student accommodation. This work is being conducted with the support of the Housing Agency; relevant Government Departments and Agencies; local authorities and the Office of Public Works in the context of its work in relation to the State Property Register.

To date, data on over 700 individual local authority and Land Aggregation Scheme sites has been gathered and collated. The identification of other publicly owned lands will focus initially on the main urban areas (i.e. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford ). Once the broader data set is available, during the first Quarter of 2017, I anticipate that this will provide an enhanced basis for identification of lands for the provision of increased housing, including for student accommodation, in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills and other stakeholders.

During this data gathering phase, a number of early actions have already been undertaken by local authorities and the Housing Agency to progress housing development on sites in public ownership, particularly in areas of high housing demand. One such proposal was announced by South Dublin County Council at the recent launch event for Pillar 3 of Rebuilding Ireland in relation to a site that could yield almost 1, 000 new homes in Kilcarberry, Clondalkin. I expect further proposals to be brought forward by other local authorities in the coming months.

Rebuilding Ireland contains a clear commitment to reporting regular progress, through both a monthly housing activity report and a quarterly overall progress report. The First Quarterly Progress Report on the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Ireland (in respect of Quarter 3 2016 commitments and actions) was published on 1 November 2016, and can be accessed through the following link: .

Further progress reports will be published on a quarterly basis, with the next due to be published in January 2017. Each Quarterly Report will focus on the actions due to be progressed or completed in the preceding quarter.

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