Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Not that many of them came through An Bord Pleanála, but I suspect that some of them have done so. From my experience, with some exceptions, the public has a lot of faith in An Bord Pleanála to make fair, balanced and responsible decisions. The legislation refers to a small segment of developments. In County Galway there has been one application for a housing estate in the past seven years and in County Tipperary there has not been a single application for a housing estate in the past seven years. In this section we have tried to reassure developers and investors that we will have a streamlined and predictable planning system in terms of timelines but not in terms of outcomes. The process will now be more onerous for developers. It means that if a developer does not submit a professional application that is consistent with the local area plans then his or her application will be thrown out at the formal statutory pre-planning stage.

We have tried to ensure that there is a process. We have spent a lot of time talking to An Bord Pleanála about ensuring there is one. We have made changes in the Seanad that were brought forward by non-Fine Gael Members in order to ensure that the core concerns of councillors were responded to and addressed. Members should vote whatever way they see fit. My Department and I have made a big effort to ensure that nobody is bypassed in the legislation. We know from the applications that have come through the system for big planning applications this year that it has taken, on average, between 78 and 80 weeks from start to finish. Our aim is for the process to be completed in 25 to 30 weeks. The shorter time would make a huge difference in the amount of funding available for many of these projects. Let us not forget that housing supply is the core problem. I would not be working on this legislation if we did not have a crisis in many sectors of the country where we simply have not seen the kind of development that needs to come forward.

I wish to make a final point on the concerns expressed by Deputy O'Dowd. Deputy Ó Broin has tabled amendment No. 24.

We are looking at that to see if we can accept it, or a version of it, between now and Report Stage with a view to dealing with some of those issues. This is not about building houses but building communities. This involves everything from houses to schools to open spaces, with mixed tenure developments and a series of other things linked to local area plans on which councillors decide. They never decided on planning applications but they do decide on rezoning and on development plans and these will essentially design the applications.