Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I buy in to the agency issue, but what I am saying is we know that takes time. I will outline the kind of thing I was thinking about in the meantime. Most planning does not go to a vote at councils. The reason Traveller-specific accommodation does is that it is a local authority building on local authority land. As a short-term fix, given the Bill is going to be through by next spring, that could be changed. I am ball-hopping here. In the case of Traveller-specific housing, it could go straight to An Bord Pleanála, for example, and people would have a chance to make their observations, and if necessary an oral hearing could be held, but the board would make the decision or some other version of that, and I am open to hearing what my colleagues have to say. Just because it is done mainly on local authority land, why does it have to go to a vote when no other housing does? No other housing goes to a popular vote unless it is on local authority land.

I would be interested in short-term suggestions that would be in by March. The problem with what Mr. Collins said about plans and so on is that, while the law has been there since 1998, if it were really effective, we would not have the problem we have. It reminds me of the An Bord Pleanála measure that said it was a statutory objective to make decisions in four months, whereas it could take nearer to four years to get a decision at the moment. I am dealing with one case that has taken more than three and a half years. Some laws are not as enforceable as others and this one has failed to be enforced, so we need a much shorter cut and we need to get it done.