Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Apr 1972

Vol. 260 No. 3

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Building Site Purchase.

33.

Mr. Hogan

asked the Minister for Local Government the amount of money he has made available to each local authority for the purchase of building sites; whether such moneys are in the form of a loan; and, if so, the repayment terms of such loans.

34.

Mr. Hogan

asked the Minister for Local Government the amount of land (a) serviced and (b) unserviced available for house building.

35.

Mr. Hogan

asked the Minister for Local Government in respect of each local authority the amount of serviced land available and earmarked for private house development.

Mr. Molloy

With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 33, 34 and 35 together.

It is not possible to furnish this information in the form requested by the Deputy. Moneys are made available to local authorities for the purchase of building sites in a number of ways, directly by capital allocations —which may be drawn by way of loan from the Local Loans Fund or from other sources such as treasurers or insurance companies, or by the use of internal resources, such as capital receipts from the sale of property—or indirectly by subsidising loan charges on housing schemes for which land acquisition charges are normally included in the appropriate scheme loans. It would be impracticable to give details for each local authority of the amounts of such moneys, as no separate records are kept of the proportion of such loans or subsidies which has been applied to land acquisition. Separate loans are made available from time to time for the forward acquisition of land which may be used for housing schemes, private building sites or for other purposes such as amenity schemes, open spaces and so on. Such loans are raised over repayment periods varying from seven to 50 years.

I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to circulate with the Official Report, a statement showing the total number of housing sites held or being acquired at the end of February, by housing authorities. Separate figures are not available to show the number of these sites for which services are available.

The following is the statement:

Site Acquisition by Local Authorities.

Authority	Sites on hands or being acquired at 29th February, 1972.
County Councils
Carlow	334
Cavan	97
Clare	439
Cork (N)	841
Cork (S)	1,181
Cork (W)	301
Donegal	1,135
Dublin	19,784
Galway	152
Kerry	1,320
Kildare	1,953
Kilkenny	830
Laois	427
Leitrim	141
Limerick	1,017
Longford	201
Louth	540
Mayo	154
Meath	833
Monaghan	212
Offaly	1,117
Roscommon	173
Sligo	297
Tipperary NR	223
Tipperary SR	588
Waterford	457
Westmeath	366
Wexford	569
Wicklow	2,204
	———
Total	37,886
	———
County Borough Councils:
Cork	8,410
Dublin	18,900
Limerick	1,649
Waterford	3,062
	———
Total	32,021
	———
Urban District Councils:
Arklow	420
Athlone	170
Athy	21
Ballina	86
Ballinasloe	193
Birr	33
Bray	470
Buncrana	24
Bundoran	38
Carlow	966
Carrick-on-Suir	68
Cashel	50
Castlebar	357
Castleblayney	77
Cavan	52
Ceanannus Mór	46
Clonakilty	84
Clones	33
Clonmel	42
Cobh	117
Drogheda	1,781
Dundalk	2,731
Dungarvan	200
Dún Laoghaire	304
Ennis	350
Enniscorthy	162
Fermoy	140
Galway	2,324
Killarney	84
Kilrush	12
Kinsale	28
Letterkenny	198
Listowel	22
Macroom	88
Mallow	261
Midleton	130
Monaghan	550
Nenagh	41
New Ross	371
Skibbereen	52
Sligo	390
Templemore	36
Thurles	180
Tipperary	150
Tralee	390
Trim	41
Tullamore	40
Wesport	66
Wexford	331
Wicklow	78
Youghal	110
	———
Total	14,989

NOTE: The figures relate to both serviced and unserviced sites and do not include sites on which dwellings are currently in progress. They include sites which may be used for private house-building.