Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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631. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the updated position from the regional assemblies with respect to the amount of residentially zoned land; if the 41,788 hectares of land that existed following the passing of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 reduced to 11,000 hectares; if not, the amount it was reduced by; the land that has been subsequently been rezoned residential in subsequent cities and counties and LAPs; the amount of residentially zoned land that is available with and without planning permission by location; the estimated number of housing units that could be constructed on the available land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10897/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department, in conjunction with local authority planning departments, published a Residential Land Availability Survey in February 2015 of all lands zoned for residential development in statutory local authority development plans and local area plans across Ireland.

A summary of the findings, including a breakdown of the results by local authority and nationally in table 3 on page 3 of the report, is available at the following link:

The survey determined, as of 31 March 2014, the location and quantity of lands, whether owned privately or by the local authority, that may be regarded as being undeveloped and available for residential development purposes in each local authority area, and identified as being the highest priority for development.

The aggregate area of such lands amounts to 17,434 hectares which, given a range of densities appropriate to whether the lands are in small villages or in larger towns and cities and as determined by the relevant local authorities, could enable the construction of an estimated 415,000 dwellings.

In addition, under the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Programme on Housing and Homelessness, an on-line Housing Land Map was launched by my Department which aims to provide users with details of residentially zoned lands, local authority owned and Land Aggregation Scheme sites, as well as other publicly owned sites with potential for housing development and active private housing construction sites in the Dublin region. It represents a vital initial step in shaping and informing the new State Housing Land Management Strategy being developed under the National Planning Framework, which signals a significant policy shift towards securing more compact and sustainable urban and rural development, including the establishment of a National Regeneration and Development Agency to assist in ensuring a more effective approach to strategic land management, particularly in terms of publicly owned land.  The Agency will act as a national centre of expertise, working with and supporting local authorities, public bodies and other interests, to harness public lands as catalysts to stimulate regeneration and wider investment and to achieve compact, sustainable growth, with a particular focus on complex regeneration projects.