Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I shall try to answer all of the questions. I did not mean to skip the questions posed by Deputy Ó Broin. I believe the reason that I did not answer them is because I asked the same questions at the start of the process and so did the officials of the Department. We went through the logic of shortening each process as part of the overall process. Our consideration still did not do away with the risk. It was easier to have a one stage process that guarantees a timeframe. We considered all of the options. It was the first question in my head and was not a case of me avoiding answering the Deputy's questions. We analysed what was the best way to achieve greater certainty in terms of activating sites and moving them along. We also wanted to encourage people who probably do not want to rush the development of their sites. We want to convey to them that this is a process that will move planning quicker and the Department will work with developers. The aim of the provision is to shorten the time it takes to activate sites and provide a guaranteed timeframe. We considered all of the options but chose what we thought was the best option. I accept that people have different opinions. We have done our homework and chosen the best way to proceed.

I assure Deputy Coppinger that the Government is not rushing this legislation through the Dáil. Months ago we said that we wanted to deal with the legislation this week and there is any length of hours available to do so. About a month ago we debated it in the Seanad for two or three weeks. The legislation was not dreamed up yesterday and has been well discussed. I do not want her to think that we are rushing through the legislation. We are here all day tonight, all day tomorrow, Thursday, Friday or whatever time it takes to tease out matters. It is desirable to get the legislation through. It is important that we do so for the people, not just from a planning context but from a rental point of view as well. The Deputy seems to think that a couple months of a process is rushing but I do not share her opinion. It is not a reason to table an amendment and I cannot accept her amendment.

Deputy Coppinger has outlined in her amendment certain work that she wants completed. We have done the work as part of the action plan and publish quarterly reviews. The reviews are honest and everything is open to scrutiny. The reviews are published on a website and we can tease through them. This committee has a role to track the reviews of the action plan. I was involved in the process that led to the Action Plan for Jobs. Every couple of months the plan was scrutinised by the relevant committee, the media and the Dáil. The process worked and the same process will work to deliver housing. All of the Deputy's concerns are in the action plan. We share her concerns and want to drive construction. We will analyse the measures. To provide that we have to bring back the report is therefore an unnecessary amendment.

I wish to assure Deputy Murphy that we are discussing a planning and development Bill following consultation. There is no reason for inadequate scrutiny and planning decisions because there are plenty of opportunities for scrutiny, overview and input at all of the Stages of this legislation. I do not share the Deputy's view. I believe that the planning system has gotten better having been a councillor who was involved in planning and because I have a great interest in planning. If people do their jobs properly then poor decisions will not happen. The change in timelines and guaranteeing a decision should not affect scrutiny in any shape or form. I feel strongly about this matter.