The Land Development Agency (LDA) is to go to the High Court in a bid to block a Freedom of Information (FOI) request about its business dealings.
The LDA’s corporate risk register is the housing-delivery body’s assessment of dangers facing the construction industry including land values, planning regulations, labour costs and interest rates.
The agency warned that releasing the register could jepardise its goal to provide affordable housing 25 per cent below market rates.
The agency has stated that making the register public would give private developers and land vendors an advantage when selling land or properties to it.
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It also warned that the disclosure of such commercially sensitive information could allow developers to set prices that would lead to the LDA losing money.
Freelance journalist Ken Foxe sought a copy of the up-to-date corporate risk register through a FOI request.
The LDA partially complied with his request by releasing the issues it considered to be risks, but refused to release its risk score and its risk mitigation strategy.
It refused the request by invoking Section 36(1)(b) and c of the Freedom of Information Act. Section b allows for a FOI request to be refused if it might lead to financial loss.
Section c allows information to be withheld if it would disadvantage an organisation in contract arrangements.
The LDA also invoked Section 40 of the FOI Act, which allows for a refusal if the information might have an adverse impact on the financial interests of the State.
Mr Foxe appealed the decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner and senior investigator Stephen Rafferty.
In its submission to the commissioner, the LDA argued it is a commercial semi-State body created to provide affordable and social homes and build communities across Ireland.
It said it is in the process of delivering more than 10,000 homes on State-owned or acquired land and some 8,000 more through other initiatives. It does so by buying land, employing contractors to deliver housing or buying housing from private developments.
The LDA went on to state that increasing land and construction costs coupled with housing demand and other factors have increased home prices and mean that affordability is a major issue for those seeking a home.
These factors have resulted in a private residential market that is “supply constrained, highly competitive and extremely price sensitive”.
To succeed, the LDA must be able to compete in the relevant markets, manage risk and comply with the provisions of relevant legislation and regulations, it stated.
Mr Rafferty ruled in favour of Mr Foxe and deemed that the LDA’s concerns over commercial sensitivity were “significantly overstated”.
He believed the information already released to Mr Foxe identified the significant risks the LDA identified and “it is not clear to me that release of the remaining information would result in any harms above and beyond that”.
Rather than release the records, the LDA will appeal the decision to the High Court. It notified the Information Commissioner last week of legal proceedings.
