FIANNA Fáil TD Willie O’Dea asked the Minister for Housing James Browne in the Dáil when he expects the Land Development Agency (LDA) to begin delivering houses for Limerick, given it has yet to lodge a planning application for direct delivery since their inception.
This, he pointed out, is also the case despite the LDA being active in Limerick since 2019.
In response to Deputy O’Dea, the Housing Minister said the LDA is advancing delivery of affordable and social homes across the country through building a portfolio of vacant and under-utilised state lands, through partnerships with local authorities, and through its market engagement and partnership initiative, Project Tosaigh.
“Government maintains a strong focus on the use of vacant and under-utilised public land for housing having agreed the transfer of 37 sites to the Land Development Agency for the development of affordable and social housing. Four of the sites agreed for transfer are located in Limerick, including the HSE-owned site at St Josephs, which is currently at planning stage, and will form part of the overall Colbert Quarter development that has the potential to deliver over 2,800 homes,” Minister Browne said.
“The LDA are also partnering with Limerick City and County Council to deliver 183 affordable homes at Mungret, County Limerick. The planning process for this development is complete, with construction due to commence before the end of 2025.
“The LDA, through their market engagement initiative Project Tosaigh, have delivered 81 cost rental apartments in 2024 at The Mills in Castletroy, County Limerick,” he concluded.
