The meeting took a sharp turn following a presentation from Director of Housing Damien Mitchell, who outlined the current state of Galway’s zoned residential land. He revealed that 741 hectares have been designated for housing, with an estimated capacity for 18,107 units, yet most of that land remains unusable due to inadequate wastewater services.
According to Mitchell, 57.2 per cent of residentially zoned land in Galway is currently “compromised”, effectively stalled by a lack of wastewater treatment capacity. He estimated that €33.8 million would be needed to unlock medium-term lands, while €78 million would be required to service long-term development areas.
“Our ability to deliver social and affordable housing is fundamentally constrained,” Mitchell told councillors. “We want to clearly show just how limited we are in what we can build.”
Infrastructure
His presentation set off an intense round of contributions from councillors across the political spectrum, many of whom argued that discussions about LPT rates are futile while the county remains structurally unable to convert zoned land into homes.
Cllr Dermot Connolly (SF ) said national criticism of local authorities was deflecting from the real issue, years of underinvestment in infrastructure. “Seventy-two per cent of land in Galway is effectively sterile,” he said. “The government set up Irish Water, took power away from local authorities, and now blames them when nothing gets built. It’s a smokescreen.”
Cllr Martina Kinane (FF ) echoed the frustration, citing wastewater projects promised in Craughwell and Clarinbridge three years ago. “We were told €20 million was coming, nothing has happened,” she said. “The government wants Galway County Council to co-fund five per cent, but we don’t have €5 million. Uisce Éireann should fully fund it; the cost will be recouped through connection charges anyway.”
Several members raised wider obstacles to housing delivery. Cllr Andrew Reddington (FG ) said planning objections were delaying projects unnecessarily. “We see a 91 per cent rate of planning approval here in Galway, which is brilliant, but when you have developers put in for planning permission for 10 to 15 houses only to receive a lot of objections that are not based in reality.
“That needs to be looked at on a higher level. There are people who are submitting vexatious objections to housing. I guarantee that if the price for objecting was €200, there wouldn’t be half as many.”
Delivering housing
His party colleague, Cllr Ollie Turner, questioned restrictive density rules in rural towns, saying Dunmore was expected to deliver 12 homes in recent years but had produced only one. “At this juncture, now that we are past the halfway point of the County Development Plan (CDP ), I’m sure those in charge have taken stock of why we are not meeting the population targets.
“Regarding the density guidance of that CDP, and how restrictive it has been, in Dunmore, where I am from, we expected to see 12 houses be built in recent years, but we have seen just one in five years.”
Cllr Declan Geraghty (II ) argued that excessive regulations were pricing young people out of the market entirely. “The specification that houses are being built to today has gone too far. When you have the specification for a house for a young couple costing between €300,000 and €400,000, that is serious money; no wonder they aren’t having kids because they can’t afford it.
“We are all singing off the same hymn sheet because we need to keep our young people. Because if not, there will be no towns, stop blaming everybody and work together and bring something right to the county.”
Housing Activation Office
Chief Executive Liam Conneally confirmed that the Council will take a more direct approach in seeking national backing. Officials are due to meet the Housing Activation Office on October 7, where they will formally request funding to unlock zoned lands.
“Uisce Éireann has been allocated an additional €2 billion,” Conneally said. “We know exactly where Galway’s blockages are, and we will be seeking our share to resolve them.”
Cathaoirleach Cllr David Collins (FG ) closed the debate by wishing Mitchell’s housing team well as they prepare to press the case at national level, saying, “The best of luck to Damien and his team in bringing this to Housing Activation. We need to free up land for Galway.”
