Louth’s €56 million land bank loan hangover cannot be repeated, warns local councillor

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

The €56 million landbank loan debt which hung over Louth County Council in the post ‘Celtic Tiger’ era must not be repeated, a local councillor warned as plans to acquire new lands for housing were outlined this week.

The council’s 2026 Budget meeting heard that the local authority will have to invest in new land in order to fulfil it’s obligations under the government’s new housing plan.

But Cllr. Marianne Butler said caution was needed as “the lived experience is that we might have regretted some of the things that we bought, and money that was spent on certain land banks in the past.”

She asked what the council’s plans were to purchase land for future development, “and to ensure that we get good land banks, in the right places, to build on, and at the right price.”

Louth County Council had accumulated an estimated €56 million in what became known as legacy land loans, from the purchase of lands bought in the early 2000’s.

After many years of huge repayments on loans, the issue was eventually resolved when a new government scheme was introduced in 2022, providing refunds on some loans, and saving the council €1 million each month in repayments.

Speaking at the council’s Budget meeting, Director of Housing, Ger Murphy, said the council have to plan to meet the requirements under the new housing plan launched earlier this month.

"I take cognisance very clearly of the previous issues surrounding land banks, we are very aware of this. But we do at the same time have to ensure we have land banks to build on into the future, to meet our obligations under the national housing plan.”

He added: “There is a strong requirement for local authorities to build, and to lead the way, and on building social housing, so we have to ensure we can do that. We have to be careful about how we do that in terms of land, and getting value for money.”