Government makes 375 acres available for affordable housing

MORE THAN 375 acres of Government-owned land have been assigned for use as affordable housing, the latest official figures show.

Four Government departments have made 12 sites throughout the country available as part of a drive to provide 10,000 low-cost housing units nationwide.

The largest tract of land is 81 hectares of Department of Defence-owned property in Gormanston, Co Meath.

There are a number of very small parcels of land in Dublin. However, some of the smaller sites in Dublin, including a one-acre site in Harcourt Terrace, would attract very high prices if offered on the open market.

The Departments of Defence, Agriculture and Health are the main providers of sites, along with the Office of Public Works.

They include a 10-acre site on the Model Farm Road in Cork city and former Department of Defence property on the Old Youghal Road, Cork.

Two of the other large sites include a 22-hectare parcel of Department of Agriculture land in Athenry, Co Galway, and Department of Defence land at McGee Barracks in Co Kildare.

In addition to central Government-owned land, some 60 other sites have been provided by local authorities and by the Health Service Executive.

Construction has commenced on a number of sites but there has been consistent criticism from the opposition that while the land bank has been assembled, too few of the houses have been built.

A committee chaired by former trade unionist Des Geraghty is overseeing the implementation of the initiative and is expected to make a major announcement about progress to date within the next few weeks.

The initiative will not necessarily mean that affordable housing will be built on all the sites.

With the Harcourt Terrace site, for example, developers were asked to submit proposals for acquiring the site in exchange for housing or zoned sites in the greater Dublin area.