Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
644. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage 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]
Amharc ar fhreagraInformation 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.
