Helen Finlay

Worker in white hard hat and neon yellow safety jacket, smiling outdoors.

Helen J. Finlay is an Irish public servant and urban development professional who serves as a senior official with the Land Development Agency (LDA), the state body

responsible for coordinating large-scale housing and land-use projects in Ireland.


Her work contributes to national strategies addressing housing affordability, sustainable communities, and public-sector land utilization.


Key facts

• Affiliation: Land Development Agency

• Field: Land appraisals, housing development, and planning large scale mixed use Residential developments.

• Role: Senior management/strategic planning (Ireland)

• Focus: Public land optimization and affordable housing delivery


Background and career

Helen J. Finlay has extensive experience in Irish land appraisal, and infrastructure delivery and planning. At the LDA, she is involved in aligning development programs

with government policy to increase housing supply and promote compact urban growth. The agency collaborates with local authorities and state bodies to unlock public lands for residential and mixed-use projects, helping to meet Ireland’s long- term housing demand.


Professional focus

Helen’s responsibilities typically include coordinating stakeholder planning frameworks, managing developments through design and planning stages, and ensuring that LDA developments meet environmental and planning policy standards. Her work supports the transition to more efficient land use, integrating transport, energy, and community infrastructure into development strategies.


Significance

Through her leadership within the LDA, Helen plays a role in shaping Ireland’s response to the national housing shortage and in promoting sustainable urban regeneration. The agency’s initiatives—spanning key urban centres such as Dublin, Cork, and Limerick—reflect the State’s broader commitment to strategic, environmentally conscious development and planning. Helen’s work is focused on two of the LDA’s largest mixed use Housing Developments in Dublin with progress underway on both schemes.