Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 October 2025
239. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason for the delays in having housing built on the OPW site on Jamestown Road, Inchicore and on the surplus lands of the CIÉ Works in Dublin 8, despite the site being identified for housing over a decade and a half ago. [54049/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment continues to maintain a strong focus on the use of vacant and underutilised state owned and public land for housing, having agreed the transfer of 37 sites to the Land Development Agency (LDA) for the development of affordable and social housing. Housing construction is already underway on four sites and planning applications have been granted or lodged in the case of 7 further sites.
The OPW and Irish Rail lands in Inchicore were agreed by Government for transfer to the LDA under Housing for All in 2021.
These lands, together with land owned by ESB represent a significant quantum of public land in the Inchicore/Jamestown Road area and sit within the wider City Edge regeneration opportunity.
Much of these lands are currently in operational use by Irish Rail as a train maintenance and repair deport, by the OPW as a storage and engineering facility and by the ESB as a high voltage electricity sub-station of regional importance.
As a result of these current, and former uses, there are significant constraints across these lands that require unlocking before residential development can be delivered. These constraints include numerous protected structures, including the large Michael Scott building on the OPW site which is National Inventory of Architectural Heritage listed; issues with contamination; the presence of SEVESO uses, which require relocation; and the presence of significant overhead and underground infrastructure, which requires consolidation and/or re-routing; and the consolidation or relocation of other functions/existing uses to free up land for residential development. It should also be noted that, at this stage, the land in this area is not zoned for residential development.
The LDA is currently working with all land-owning stakeholders and the Local Authority to fully understand the constraints on the site and to determine the potential and timeline for residential development, together with the associated costs.
