Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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644. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of brownfield sites identified for housing nationally; the expected annual delivery from these sites to 2030; and the measures planned to accelerate activation of brownfield land. [63911/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Information on the number of brownfield sites identified for housing nationally is not held or collated by my Department.

With regard to residential land held by local authorities, I should point out that local authorities are entirely independent corporate entities having full responsibility under law for the performance of their functions and the discharge of their governance and other responsibilities, including the use of land.

Since its establishment, the Land Development Agency (LDA) carries out certain functions with regard to State owned relevant public land. 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 Act, within a town the population of which is equal to or greater than 10,000 persons at the last Census.

In accordance with the Land Development Agency Act 2021 the LDA maintains a Register of Relevant Lands at lda.ie/public-lands/register-of-relevant-landsand furnishes to Government, at two yearly intervals, a Report on Relevant Public Land at lda.ie/public-lands/report-on-relevant-lands. This facilitates and supports the identification and assessment of the potential of relevant public land for the provision of affordable and social housing. The Register, which includes information regarding current use and any vacant status, can be accessed via the LDA website via the following link: lda.ie/public-lands/register-of-relevant-lands.

As a key partner in the Government’s delivery of affordable and social homes, the LDA is activating and securing the delivery of affordable and social homes on the State’s own lands along with developments under the LDA's Private Acquisitions Initiative . As part of their remit, the LDA supports local authorities, through partnerships, to masterplan and deliver homes on local authority lands that are largely urban and brownfield in nature. They also have a remit to masterplan, activate and deliver housing on other state lands transferred to the Agency, generally also urban and brownfield and in nature. Furthermore, the Government has agreed to an expansion of the remit of the LDA to support the delivery of housing, and this includes unlocking key strategic public lands for urban brownfield delivery through infrastructure investment.

I have also established a Housing Activation Office in my Department. The team comprises senior and experienced staff from within my Department, in addition to senior specialists seconded from Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the local government sector. The Office is actively engaged in identifying barriers to housing delivery and is coordinating with local authorities and infrastructure agencies to address these barriers.

In the coming months I will be bringing forward a new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund, with multi-year funding being made available to support direct investment in critical housing infrastructure where it can be accelerated and delivered in the short term. This new fund will operate in addition to existing investment programmes such as the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, which will continue to play a key role alongside the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund.

This joined-up approach will help accelerate housing delivery by unblocking infrastructure constraints and ensuring that investment is targeted to where it can have the greatest impact.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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645. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the brownfield sites identified in Cork city and Cork county that are suitable for housing; the number of units expected from each site; and the planned timeline for commencement. [63912/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not collate the information sought and the query would be more appropriately directed to the local authority in question.

It should be noted that local authorities are entirely independent corporate entities having full responsibility under law for the performance of their functions and the discharge of their governance and other responsibilities. The broad oversight role that the Department fulfils in respect of Local Government policy does not include the power to instruct or direct the authorities unless that is specifically provided for in legislation.

The democratically elected Councillors are responsible for running the local authority in conjunction with the Chief Executive and his/her team. Under Section 149 of the Local Government Act 2001, the Chief Executive of a local authority is responsible for the executive functions of the local authority, and for that purpose to manage and control generally, the administration and business of the authority.

With regard to sites that may be suitable for housing, the adopted development plan for the local authority area, which is available to view on the local authority website, includes the identification of lands zoned for residential development (which includes 'brownfield' lands) or zoned for a mixture of uses including residential.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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646. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the housing outputs achieved to date under the Town-Centre First policy; the number of new homes delivered in town centres in 2023 and 2024; and the expected annual delivery to 2030. [63913/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government’s ‘Town Centre First’ (TCF) Policy Approach was launched by my Department and the then Department of Rural and Community Development in 2022, and since then, a range of supports and measures to encourage more people to live, do business and visit our town centres have been introduced.

To drive the delivery of TCF, a number of national structures were established, including a network of Town Regeneration Officers who are working in concert with wider local authority teams focused on town centre regeneration, supported by a National TCF Office.

Increasing housing supply in towns, including through the conversion of vacant or under-used premises to housing is a critical part of the Government’s approach to regeneration. The Vacant Homes Unit in my Department has published the ‘Vacant Homes Action Plan’ to draw together a number of vacancy related measures across relevant Government Departments, see the latest 2025 Progress Report here:

A number of Government funding streams have now been aligned closely with TCF. These include the Project Ireland 2040 Urban and Rural Regeneration and Development Funds (URDF and RRDF), the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS), in addition to the following funding streams and grants that specifically focus on tackling vacancy and promoting town centre living:

• URDF Call 3 is specifically targeted at tackling long term vacancy and dereliction, providing a €150 million revolving fund for local authorities to acquire vacant or derelict properties, using their compulsory purchase powers where necessary. Acquired properties are then offered for private sale at market value to those who will commit to bringing the property back into residential use. To date, 1,297 properties have been approved by my Department for inclusion on URDF 3 programmes, across all 31 local authorities.
• The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant scheme provides funding up to €50,000 to refurbish vacant properties and up to €70,000 where the property is confirmed derelict. At the end of Q2 2025, over 13,700 applications had been received for the VPRG with over 9,9,70 approved and over 2,850 grants paid to date as refurbishment works have been completed, amounting to almost €155,255 million.
• Additional Departmental schemes in response to vacancy/dereliction include the Repair and Leasing Scheme targeted at owners of vacant properties and the Buy and Renew Scheme providing capital funding to local authorities to deliver social housing.
• My Department also introduced a change to the Planning and Development Regulations in 2018, that provide an exemption from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings to residential use, including ‘above the shop’ living. The most recent local authority returns from 2024 show that local authorities have received notifications of 1,457 exempted development proposals to date, with plans put forward to result in the provision of 3,429 new homes nationwide. These exemptions can be combined with other vacant property supports outlined above such as the ‘Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant’ (VPRG) and the ‘Repair and Leasing Scheme’.