Results 401-420 of 1,085,275 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Máiría Cahill OR speaker:Barry Cowen OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Richard O'Donoghue OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte)

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That is fine. I thank Ms Brennan.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (10 Oct 2024)

Brian Stanley: Apologies have been received from Deputies Marc Ó Cathasaigh, Catherine Murphy and John Brady. I propose that we go into private session briefly. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Brian Stanley: The witnesses are all very welcome. I remind everyone in attendance to ensure their mobile phones are switched off or in silent mode. To start, I wish to explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practices of the Houses as regard references witnesses may make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Brian Stanley: I call the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, to deliver his opening statement.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Brian Stanley: The first committee member to speak is Deputy Cormac Devlin, who has 15 minutes.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: I welcome our witnesses. I thank Mr. Coleman for his opening remarks. I will start by addressing Shanganagh Castle Estate. It is close to my own heart because, before my time as a TD, I was a councillor on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I know how long that site lay vacant. While there were several plans for it, it was not until the LDA took over the site – the first...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: I see. The recharge relates just to that portion of homes.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: That is fine. As to the negotiations between the LDA and State-owned properties, Mr. Coleman mentioned 59 sites that are currently in negotiation. Is that figure correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: I presume there are other sites about which the agency is in discussion. Mr. Coleman also referred to a report that is being done in order that the LDA can have factual numbers and statistics on sites available to it for development. Is that report completed?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: Does that report or the new updated report that will be published next year, include sites that fall under the Project Tosaigh schemes, or does it only concern direct-build sites?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: In 2023, the LDA had 5,600 units under planning. Is that excluding units under Project Tosaigh? The reason I ask is I want to delve into Project Tosaigh shortly. What is the current state of play of those 5,600 units in planning? That figure is from 2023. At what stage are they currently? How many of those units have been given planning permission? How many of them are under...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: To receiving planning. Mr. Coleman spoke about transparency for the organisation. As planning is achieved, is a pipeline visible on the LDA’s website for people to see how many LDA sites there are and which ones what have planning permission in order that the public are aware of these large sites being developed?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: Going back to Project Tosaigh and the sites the LDA has acquired that have planning permission, Mr. Coleman said some of them are not straightforward and I accept that. He said there were 8,000 units proposed to be constructed through Project Tosaigh by 2028. How many units were delivered under Project Tosaigh last year? How many are to be delivered by the end this year?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: How are these sites, with planning through Project Tosaigh, acquired? How do they come to the LDA's attention and what is the optimal number involved? What criteria apply in deciding whether a site should or should not be selected?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: Is that the home builder partnership as opposed to direct delivery by the LDA?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: Shanganagh.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: That makes sense. I thank Mr. Coleman for that clarification. Turning to the C and AG's report, one of the issues - this is also highlighted in the LDA's financial statements - is the reliance on the spreadsheet accounting system. On the basis of what Mr. Coleman said, we know that this is being addressed right now. The LDA was incorporated in March 2022. Obviously, there was an unfunded...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: What did it cost?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: I am just limited on time. I just need a cost please, if Mrs Henehan would not mind.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Land Development Agency (10 Oct 2024)

Cormac Devlin: I only have one minute remaining. On the pensions arrangements, for, relatively speaking, a fledging organisation, there seems to be quite an array of pension arrangements for staff. There are 83 in total. Will Mr. Coleman outline the rationale behind that and indicate why there is such variance between the pension arrangements in place for different staff?