Brian Stanley Questions LDA on Homes, Funding and Local Authority Role

Welcome to the guests and thanks for the paper supplied. Just in relation to the Land Development Agency, and I want to try and keep the questions short and keep the answers short, in relation to your engagement with local authorities, could you just ask how that happens in maybe two sentences, just briefly how that happens? The engagement with local authorities, Deputy, happens early and often, I would say. They are a key partner for us, about a third of the sites that are operational on at the moment have come from local authorities, and they are key to the… So they are identifying the sites? They would own the sites, but might not have the ability to get them delivered themselves and we deliver them for them. Okay, and could you just ask in relation to the number of homes actually completed to date on LDA land? We have completed about 2,000 homes to date, so it should be almost another 1,000. This year 2,000, next year, and about 3,500 at 27, and from there on… When the agency was helping in 2018, its forecast will be 150,000 delivered by 2030, and in your paper, in your introductory paper, opening statement, you outlined that 40 sites, 2040 sites, 21,000 homes are at various stages, and then you said that you go to the pipeline of 5,000 homes per year up to 2030, that's 30,000 on top of two… did you say 2,000 or 4,000 developed already? 2,000. 2,000. 2,000. 2,000. 1,000. 1,000. 3,000. 3,000. 3,000. 4,000. by 2031, according to your targets here of 5,000 per year will bring it to 32,000. Would that be correct? That's the figures I have here. Thanks, Deputy. I think that back in late 2018 when the LDA was formed, which was just at concept stage, and obviously the legislation was enacted in 2021, that 150,000 number was put out in late 2018 by the then government for delivery out to... The government said you were going to be under 50,000. ...out to 2040. And I just want to clarify that the LDA is already one of the, if not the largest housing producer in the country. We will be certainly by completions the largest housing producer by 2027. And I think the scale piece that you talk about to join the dots to the 150,000 can be achieved by mechanisms like the UDZs that the government has announced today a significant role for the LDA. OK. And I know everything is easy until you go out to do it. You know, barriers there, and you've outlined some of those very well as a housing agency. Could I just ask in relation to in relation to to finance? Obviously, you know, there's a 3.25 billion there to be a medal to achieve where you're going with this. And has... What would you say? There's three areas of curiosity for me there. One is in relation to... And maybe these have all been... I'm sure they've all been explored, but what's the problem to them? The ECB is one. You know, I know that there were... At one stage, they were nearly throwing cash at us. You know, the amount of money on deposit. You know, you have people with money in banks getting, you know, 0.05% interest rate per annum of so-called pillar banks. You know, what's... There's been any discussion with the banks there. And the credit union, I know, the credit unions, back nine years ago, were saying, you know, we have 10 or 12 billion on deposit and we're looking for places to invest it. Have those areas been looked at? I think that it would be interesting to look at those in terms of cash that's there on deposit. We haven't explored in any detail to date. On the EIB, we're in active engagement with the EIB on borrowing facilities, which would expand significantly the capital of the LDA. But it is important to know, Deputy, that we're not struggling with capitalisation or funding right now. We're well funded by the government and we're well funded for the foreseeable. You've got enough cash for this year? Oh, we've enough cash capital to fund commitments that we will make well into next year. And there are ongoing discussions about increasing that. 12 months capital. But I would suggest... It's a board to clarify, Deputy, it's much more than 12 months because the capital underpins developments over years out. I know that pipeline. Three, four years out. So we have no concerns about cash pinches. I understand that. Could I just ask the housing agency, Mr Whelan, just in relation to finance? Because obviously it's a big issue. It's one of the big barriers to availability. You know, just in relation to DCB, you know, the pillar banks, what's on deposit, credit unions, you know, they have a lot of money on deposit. Have there been any discussions that you're aware of with those various bodies? The DCB, Mr Coleman has clarified, you are in discussions with them, has been in contact. But just from the housing agency's point of view. Deputy, my understanding is, as you pointed out, that there have been discussions, particularly with the ECB through the Department of Finance. We haven't been a party to those discussions. But the general point around looking at ways to bring that capital into productive use to address what is the biggest share challenge in Ireland at the moment, the housing challenge, I think, is a valid one. And the money on deposit. Absolutely. And state savings schemes. Again, again, Deputy, if there is a mechanism through the appropriate channels to bring that money, that capital, into a productive use targeting housing supply, I think that would be welcome. And we as a housing agency are not involved in that process or those discussions. But I can see why the discussions are taking place. But in your discussions with the Government, though, are you raising it? Are you suggesting it? Because obviously, everybody's in the same game trying to produce houses. Well, you will see, Deputy, from my opening statement that I spend quite a degree of time focusing on capital. And by capital, I mean all the channels of capital. OK, thanks for that. And just one last question in relation to the service in the land, Mr Coleman. You know, there's a problem in getting estates that are actually Finnish connected to Irish water once they're finished. There's a problem as well in DSP because they got rid of a lot of workers and brought in contractors over the last 10 and 15 years. And now they've discovered that they can't get the contractors to do the work. At one stage, if you wanted an ESP connection for a number of houses, or even one house, you would be guaranteed to get it within two or three weeks in the part of the country I live in, right? I'm aware of that. First-hand experience of it. They came very, very quick when they had their own direct labour to do it and to do it cheaper. Is the connections, you know, with DSP and Irish water, or are these proven to be a problem? Slow-up development. It hasn't bitten directly yet, but it is a risk and it's well documented with problems with, say, for instance, the Greater Dublin Drainage Project, which is held up in judicial review or legal challenges with capacity in the network for electricity, that they are risks and it's something that we stay very close to both those utilities who we have very good relationships with to try and address them. The lack of infrastructure at this point is holding up projects. Not at this point. It's not holding us up at this point, but it is a risk item for the future, for sure. Thank you. Thank you, Senator McCarty.