Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2666. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans for the new housing agency; if he has received legal advice on same on mandatory purchasing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33409/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraProject Ireland 2040, published in February 2018, signals a significant policy shift towards securing more compact and sustainable urban and rural development, which requires significantly more effective land management in key development areas. Against that background, it is proposed to establish a National Regeneration and Development Agency to assist in ensuring a more effective approach to strategic land management, particularly in terms of publicly owned land.
The Agency will act as a national centre of expertise, working with and supporting local authorities, public bodies and other interests, to harness public lands as catalysts to stimulate regeneration and wider investment and to achieve compact, sustainable growth, with a particular emphasis on complex regeneration projects and the provision of affordable housing.
My Department received preliminary advice from the Attorney General's Office in relation to the broad parameters to be taken into account in establishing the Agency. Detailed arrangements in relation to the functions, powers and mechanisms and legislative arrangements for the establishment and operations of the Agency, including what powers it may have in relation to land acquisition, are currently being developed by my Department, in conjunction with the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with a view to their early finalisation.
