Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The First Report on Relevant Public Lands which was published by the LDA in 2023 identified state owned land with potential for housing development in the five cities and five key growth centres. That potential identified is being assessed further in the light of ongoing developments on those sites. Suitable sites for housing development being recommended for transfer to the LDA will be considered by Government in sets, based on highest priority sites and lowest level of site constraints.

Last month, 9 sites were agreed by Government for transfer to the LDA across the cities of Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway and cumulatively will have the potential to deliver over 3,000 new homes.

Subsequent sets of sites will be considered by Government in due course. These transferred sites will add to the LDA's existing housing delivery pipeline of social and affordable homes. The LDA will publish details of each project on their website, as the sites become active.

As part of the site appraisal process following the publication of the report, my Department and the Department of Justice held stakeholder engagement discussions regarding the site of the former Cork Prison, its current and future uses, and its suitability for potential use for affordable and social housing. Although the site has potential for residential repurposing, it is not currently intended to transfer the site to the LDA, as the Irish Prison Service have plans to utilise the site.

I note that the LDA are actively developing and delivering large scale schemes of affordable and social homes on State lands in other areas of Cork. For example, construction work is underway at the former St Kevin's Hospital site in Cork City, where 265 new homes are to be delivered from 2025.

The Government has also approved the transfer, in due course following the relocation of services there, of the state owned veterinary laboratory site on the Model Farm Road in Cork to the LDA for the development of social and affordable homes. The site was identified in the Report on Relevant Public Lands and is capable of delivering between 140 - 200 new homes.