State-owned land freed up for cheaper housing

ADDITIONAL State- owned land around the country is to be made available for affordable housing, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern confirmed yesterday.

This follows his announcement that 309 acres in Dublin city and counties Meath and Kildare are to be released immediately for housing.

Trade unionists welcomed the development, ICTU general secretary David Begg saying building on the 309 acres would go half way towards an objective of constructing 10,000 affordable houses over a three-year period.