Land Development Agency
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

I will make two points quite clearly. In relation to affordable homes, that is the sort of prioritisation the LDA should be looking for. I am more than happy to bring this point forward on the Deputy’s behalf to the Minister. Perhaps there will be scope for further discussion at the next round of oral parliamentary questions.
The Deputy has raised a point that is not being raised enough in relation to the collection of development levies and the ability to use those funds for community facilities.
The part of Dublin where I lived was very much a project of the Celtic tiger era where land that was once rural was rezoned rapidly, and housing of all forms – apartments, duplexes and three-, four- and five-bedroom houses - were built at pace, but it took approximately ten years for the schools to open, for roads to be finished off and even for the basic, more commercial entities such as supermarkets and shops to come on stream. We see where development has got this right, such as in Cherrywood, just up the road from me, where the roads and parks are already in. It is only now that we are starting to see the large-scale housing accommodation provided. The three school sites have not only been identified but groundwork has started, and they will be open for the children of that area to be educated in. It is similar with Clonburris in South Dublin County Council's locality.
I would argue that many of the mistakes made before have been learned from, but there are a heck of lot more that need to be learned from, and that requires our diligence to make sure those mistakes are not repeated. We need to make sure that, absolutely, we crack on and massively ramp up the delivery of new homes, but that those communities and, indeed, the scope for commercial facilities that goes with that are prioritised as well. Again, these are points I will be more than happy to make to the Minister on the Deputy’s behalf.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23