LDA does not ‘pay ransom money’, chief executive says after €2m bungalow deal
The Land Development Agency (LDA) in Ireland is facing scrutiny after paying €2.15 million to purchase a bungalow to settle a legal challenge against a major housing development. CEO John Coleman defended the purchase, stating it was not 'ransom money' but a necessary step to proceed with urgent housing construction.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the tension between private property rights, legal challenges, and the state's urgent need to address housing shortages.
The Land Development Agency (LDA) “does not pay ransom money” or buy properties “willy-nilly” to eliminate legal challenges to the State’s housing programme, LDA chief executive John Coleman has said.
Coleman was speaking after The Irish Times reported on Friday how the agency had paid more than €2 million this year to buy a dormer bungalow to settle a High Court case against the development of almost 1,000 homes at the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum , Co Dublin .
Mark Leonard, who owned the house at 36 Friarsland Road, Goatstown , initiated judicial review proceedings in February against planning permission for the State’s flagship affordable housing development.
He withdrew the case a fortnight later. It was the second legal challenge Leonard had taken to the LDA’s plans for the site.
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