Mr. Seán O'Neill:

To address Deputy Casey's comment on the democratic process, I agree that we need some detailed master plan for all towns and cities. Once that plan is in place and people come forward with applications consistent with it, there should be no objection process. That would fix the democracy piece. I have been involved in numerous SHD planning applications and people are still able to make submissions about applications. In a number of our decisions we have found that the board will take on board comments that come through submissions and condition certain things in planning applications to ensure those concerns are addressed throughout the project.

I refer to stakeholder engagement. We spend a lot of time engaging with schools, religious orders and neighbours to our sites to tell them what we are planning. Even doing this collaboratively does not stop people from having the right to object, but, at least, they feel they have been informed.

I do not know anyone who wants an apartment building within 20 m or 50 m of his or her house. However, what the Minister and the Department have done with the apartment guidelines is address an issue in the overriding of certain development plans. Mr. King referred to sprawl. We can continue to build low rise housing and sprawl out further and further, but we need higher density housing and higher buildings along the Luas and DART lines. That is the right thing to do for the long-term sustainability of the environment, with everything else. I do not apologise for using the apartment guidelines to override certain development plans which included a restriction of two or three storeys beside a Luas line, which does not make any sense.

The SDZ system was mentioned. What happened with the DDDA expedited the delivery of the proper type of product in the proper locations. That will create a level playing field, whether the product is being developed by the LDA or a private builder in the private market. Ms Myler also touched on this issue and how the LDA might impact on regular house builders and competition. We do not know what that looks like at this time.

I cannot do anything about nailing jelly to walls, but another point was raised about modular construction, which is part of the solution and will help to modernise our building techniques. Modular construction only works where there is repetition, volume and a standardised approach, which is hard to get on many Dublin sites. It is very hard to find a site large enough for modular construction to work. We are building timber-framed housing which is quicker to build than traditional housing and better in some ways. We have to look at new systems of construction because we have a huge issue with trades and have to find better ways to deliver them off-site.