Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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761. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is considering any policy measures to expand public land holdings in Irish cities and bring them in line with cities like Helsinki where 70% of land is in public ownership; his views on how such a policy might support housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23988/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the Revised National Planning Framework, the strategic priorities outlined in Project Ireland 2040, and the key housing delivery pathways of Housing For All, supporting compact growth at national, regional and local level is central to Government's approach to investment in Irish cities.

For our housing delivery partners such as Local Authorities, state bodies and the Land Development Agency (LDA), land management is carried out within each of the bodies involved given the variability of location and ownership involved.

The LDA is a key partner in the Government’s delivery of affordable and social homes, co-ordinating housing delivery on relevant public lands within State control and activating key under-utilised sites to maximise housing delivery.

Relevant public land is land owned by a relevant public body, being a local authority, Government Minister or state body listed in Schedule 1 and 2 of the Land Development Agency Act 2021 ("The Act"), within a town the population of which is equal to or greater than 10,000 persons at the last Census.

The Act requires the LDA to establish and maintain a www.lda.ie/public-lands/register-of-relevant-lands and furnish to Government, at two yearly intervals, a These tools facilitate and support the identification and assessment of the potential of relevant public land for the provision of affordable and social housing both now, and in the future.

Furthermore, the Government is acutely aware of the housing challenges faced by many sectors of society. It has committed in the Programme for Government, published in January 2025, to introduce a new national housing plan to follow Housing for All. This will be underpinned by multi-annual funding and has considered approaches in other jurisdictions. While this work is being undertaken, the measures detailed in Housing for All continue to be progressed.