Orla Hegarty: Is the Land Development Agency a second bail out for developers?

The LDA’s latest report says that just 9,760 homes may be built on public lands in the next five to ten years

An €8 billion sovereign wealth fund has been proposed for housing. This is a lot of money, but it won’t stretch far if spending isn’t tightly scrutinised and controlled. So, can more money end the crisis?

The vehicle for this fund is to be the Land Development Agency (LDA), established five years ago. The LDA initially had a €1.25 billion budget and capacity to borrow €1.25 billion more, but its output has been low and slow: Just 860 homes are on site and none are occupied.