LDA needs power to build, not hoard.
LDA needs power to build, not hoard. - The Labour Party
Labour’s housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD has today criticised the Government’s failure to properly empower the Land Development Agency (LDA), following the publication of its report which identifies 102 publicly owned sites across Ireland that could deliver between 11,000 and 71,000 homes.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“Today’s report confirms what we’ve long known – there is enough publicly owned land across this country to make serious inroads into the housing crisis. But this Government is failing to act with the urgency required. We’re sitting on sites that could deliver up to 71,000 homes – and yet nothing is happening.
“Unless the LDA is properly capitalised and tasked with greater activation and land management responsibilities, it risks becoming nothing more than a bureaucratic land-hoarding agency. At the moment, the Government has essentially turned it into the Lame Duck Agency – long on potential, short on power.
“We need to see vision. This is a clear opportunity to show that the State can lead on housing. But vision means action – not just reports gathering dust on desks in Dublin. It’s no use identifying public land if you’re not going to use it. What’s the point of the LDA if it can’t use the land we already own?
“In the context of the worst housing crisis, it is absolutely unconscionable to leave this land idle. Brownfield sites in particular must be activated immediately. We need incentives from Government specifically targeted at developers actively seeking to acquire and develop brownfield sites.The LDA should be leading this charge, but the Government has refused to give it the mandate and money to do so.
“We have families spending years on housing waiting lists, young people stuck in their childhood bedrooms, and workers unable to live near their jobs or families. And all the while, the State sits on land that could house tens of thousands. That is a failure of political will.
“We in Labour believe that housing is a right – and the State must be the driver of delivery. But that means empowering public bodies like the LDA to act. It means more than just mapping potential – it means building homes, fast. The Minister for Housing must fully capitalise the LDA and grant it the powers needed to acquire, activate, and develop public land. The time for vision is now – not in another two years when the next report lands.”