The CEO of the Land Development Agency (LDA) has said that Ireland probably does not have enough zoned land to deal with population growth.
Appearing before the Oireachtas Housing Committee, John Coleman welcomed local authorities' willingness to look at zoning more land for residential developments, but said it must be serviced and also have waste water services.
Mr Coleman hopes that to have news "in the near future" about the zoning of lands being "brought forward".
He conceded that the possibility of judicial reviews are "a risk" to any development, and noted that one was successfully taken against a large LDA project at the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.
A "revised planning application has been lodged... for nearly a thousand homes," after the previous application was rejected, Mr Coleman said.
He hopes to get a decision on it "within the next couple of months".
Seamus McGrath, Fianna Fáil TD, asked what impact the judicial review has had on costs and delivery.
"It'll be delayed by at least two years," Mr Coleman revealed, adding that financial impact of the challenge "has been to add at least €30 million on the estimated delivery costs".
"We're not out of the woods yet. We haven't got a positive planning decision. We don't know if we'll get a further challenge."
Mr McGrath noted "quite stark" Central Bank statistics which show that inward capital flows and equity finance are down 80% in recent years.
Martin Whelan, CEO of the Housing Agency, said that there has been "a near collapse" in investment.
The lack of capital, along with high costs and a lack of capacity, are the three interrelated causes of the housing shortage which the agency has identified.
The lack of funding for new developments, especially for apartments where the equity requirement is higher, prevents developers from operating at scale, across multiple projects, rather than one at a time.
Modular waste water units 'an option'
Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney said he is aware of zoned land which lacks waste water capacity, and that this is "holding up development in a major way".
But there are modular systems available, he said, and asked whether they were viable.
Mr Coleman said that the LDA "would be happy to look at" the "potential for smaller modular [waste water] units" to be used.
Phelim O'Neill, Director of Development at the LDA, agreed, and said that "the interim use of temporary solutions is something the we're actively working at".
"Certainly on a temporary basis there is an option to have unitised systems."
He said that there are "some very reputable producers" of these units, adding that the LDA would work with Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks "to find these temporary fixes to try and unlock the lands".
These could work in both urban and rural areas, he said.
Mr Coleman said that the LDA is increasingly going to focus on smaller urban areas, as well as the cities which have been its priority to date.
