James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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250. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the conditions applicable to allow a local authority to complete the sale of its property and land for community gain or benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42589/20]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter for each individual local authority to decide on the utilisation of its assets, including its land bank.  A local authority may propose to dispose of land no longer required by it for its statutory functions. This is a reserved function of the elected members.  

Section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides inter alia thata prior notice of any proposed land disposal be sent to each of the elected members of the local authority. Details must also be provided of the person to whom the land is to be sold and any conditions relating to the sale. 

At the next relevant meeting of the Council the elected members may decide whether or not the sale shall proceed and any conditions to be applied shall be set out in the members’ resolution. My consent, as Minister, is only required in cases where the price obtained by a local authority for the sale of land is not the best reasonably obtainable.

The provisions of section 183 do not generally apply to the sale of dwellings under the Housing Acts except -

(i)where a dwelling is proposed to be sold to another housing authority; or

(ii) where an unoccupied dwelling is proposed to be sold to any person.