COUNCILLORS had very strong words for the Land Development Agency (LDA), predicting that “pigs would fly” before the State’s affordable housing delivery body ever builds a home in Limerick City.
At this month’s Metropolitan District meeting, Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely called for the LDA to attend the June meeting next month to share its housing delivery plan.
She took the view that it was time the agency was held accountable for lack of delivery.
“It’s no secret that I have been a big critic of the LDA, and I will not apologise for that, and I will continue to do it until they are serious about Limerick,” Cllr Kiely told the meeting.
“We sat in a room with them in the Savoy Hotel in 2019 and we were told that there will be keys in doors by 2023. Under promise and over deliver, that is the advice I would give the LDA, but at present they are over promising and under delivering severely.”
She said that councillors “were expecting a Part 8 to be lodged by Q1 of 2026, so that ship has obviously sailed. We have nothing to indicate there’s anything coming on Carey’s Road, even though we last sat with the LDA in November 2025, assuring us that this would happen.”
“219 homes should now have permission on Carey’s Road, if we were to believe the LDA. I’d say now we’re more likely to see pigs flying than any delivery by the LDA in the foreseeable future.”
Cllr Dan McSweeney (FG) recalled the “big fanfare” when previously briefed privately by the LDA and said he felt sorry for them as they couldn’t deliver an office in Limerick City.
“If an organisation such as the LDA cannot even deliver an office, they haven’t a hope of actually delivering a property for somebody to live in. We were promised keys in doors and we haven’t even turned the sod on an LDA site, it’s deeply concerning,” he said.
Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan deemed the LDA an incredibly difficult organisation to deal with, saying: “One thing that is the most difficult thing being a councillor is when other state agencies make promises and then don’t deliver on it, because it always falls back on us.”
Cllr Kiely added: “They’re just doing whatever they want. They’re putting out whatever press releases they want, which are few and far between, as well. We’re getting the blame as councillors.”
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme