Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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242. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps he will take in relation to the requests from Dublin City Council following the receiver seeking to reduce the amount of social housing in the Poolbeg SDZ; if all materials, correspondence and records related to the Poolbeg SDZ within his Department will be released; and if he will attend Dublin City Council to answer questions from councillors on this issue. [17055/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The development of the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) will, subject to a decision of An Bord Pleanála to approve the detailed planning scheme drawn up by the City Council and the subject of a current appeal, be subject to the provisions of Part V of the Planning Act which will deliver some 350 social housing units.

Taking account of wider Government policy in the context of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessnessand specifically the encouragement of mixed-tenure developments and the delivery of social housing by a variety of means, including but not restricted to Part V on privately owned lands such as the SDZ area,my Department has consistently pointed to both the local authority and the owners of this site to engage in order to ensure the level of social housing delivered on this site is far in excess of what would be ordinarily delivered through Part V of the Planning Act and in line with the spirit of the City Council's decision in approving the Planning Scheme that there be of the order of 900 units provided for social and affordable housing.

For example, the observations made by my Department on the draft scheme, which are available as part of the background papers in relation to the preparation of the planning scheme, made the above points very clearly but also signalled that there could be no compulsion about such matters and that such arrangements would have to be progressed in the context of an agreement that would detail the various funding, delivery and value for money considerations that apply in the ordinary course of such matters, parallel to but separate from the finalisation and consideration of the planning merits of the scheme.

However, in its decision on the adoption of the planning scheme, my Department understands that Dublin City Council moved towards a more mandatory approach and that it is essentially this aspect which has given rise to the appeal.

It is ultimately a matter for the Board to determine this appeal and neither I nor my Department can be involved in the case.

Notwithstanding the appeal process and subject to the Board’s ultimate decision, I and my Department remain committed to working with both the City Council, any relevant housing bodies (AHB’s) and either the receiver and/or developers of the SDZ area in order to secure additional social and affordable housing from this site over and above Part V obligations and of the order of magnitude laid out in the adopted planning scheme, but subject to agreement on all the normal and relevant terms, including value for money aspects.

Furthermore, it is my Department's understanding that the receiver is engaging with Dublin City Council with a view to advancing an approach that would both better enable the orderly development of this strategic but complex to develop city location and assist in delivering much needed additional social housing. My Department stands ready to support such initiatives, subject to observance of all the normal value-for-money, procurement and wider legal aspects.

The current legal situation is that no local authority can compel owners of private land to hand over specified numbers of social houses through the development plan process, over and above the requirements of Part V of the Planning Act, or set objectives for delivery of same without the relevant costs and their attribution being agreed and determined through the appropriate processes. It is therefore for the relevant parties using the array of social housing delivery mechanisms supported by my Department, including capital and current funded programmes delivered through the local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies, to realise the potential for this site, including enhanced social housing delivery.

I remain confident that a resolution will be reached in the short term to pave the way for the development of Poolbeg West SDZ in a manner which realises the much needed housing mix that it promises to deliver. Whatever the result of the hearing currently underway, I have assured the local community of my continued commitment to delivering the commitments regarding social and affordable housing that have been agreed.

As regards the release of records held by my Department in relation to the SDZ, as indicated above some of these are already publicly available as part of the process leading to the adoption of the SDZ planning scheme and, of course, my Department is a public body subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.