Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be as brief as I possibly can. I thank all of the witnesses for their presentations. It appears really perverse that we are sitting here as a housing committee with the officials in the midst of a housing crisis and we all want to see more homes delivered, and yet we are being highly critical of a process that was put in place to fast-track the approval of housing.

We must use our time collectively to try to identify how to improve the situation. The Department officials talk about taking the good parts of the SHD process, but they appear to be few and far between. The efficiency element of making a decision on planning applications for the large delivery of homes is a good element, but it falls apart because of the quality of what is being delivered. The committee should identify a way to address the issues regarding the quality of the applications that are being made, the fact that these are not sustainable homes and do not accommodate sustainable, compact, family living in urban settings and they do not allow for the necessary social infrastructure.

A judicial review is simply not an accessible mechanism for lay people. We must accept that it is not a form of appeal for the ordinary person. Bear in mind that these are ordinary people who are living their lives and are invested in their communities, like their councillors. They are not looking for an argument or to go to court. They are not even looking to engage in this type of process. They probably have children who they want to live in their area. They want to see development and homes being built, but they find themselves massively frustrated by the poor quality of the applications that are being made and the adversarial way in which they have to try to engage in the process.

I believe the committee must work with the Department. An Bord Pleanála has a job to do, which is basically to operate with whatever legislation and guidance it is given. It is doing its part. It is between us and the Department. There are still another 12 or 15 months to go with this and there will be many more applications. We need to get better quality applications that genuinely deliver sustainable, compact communities.