Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said he is going to look at these guidelines as part of the planning review so it would be useful to have as much of an indication as possible of the timeline for that. I know the Minister cannot tell us exactly but it would be useful to have an indication.

Some good points have been made about how to achieve better density and that is not all about the height of buildings. I have been flagging the point that some of the heights and density that have been achieved through planning applications for strategic housing developments have led to unviable planning permissions and areas not being built out. An issue related to that has occurred in many of the larger areas zoned for development that have been earmarked to produce more housing and higher density, and which have been partially developed. I am talking about areas that were zoned and on which development started before the crash of the Celtic tiger. As a way to kick-start development after the crash, many planning authorities indicated they would allow lower density, two-storey development on part of these lands which initially had been earmarked for duplexes and three-storey, four-storey or five-storey buildings. To compensate for that lower density and lower rise in some areas, the planning authorities stated they would allow for much higher rise and higher density in other, more concentrated areas. The easier areas to build out have been built out at this stage. The remaining lands that were earmarked for higher rise and higher density development are now these strategic housing development applications, which are effectively unviable and for which there is not demand. That issue needs to be grasped and dealt with. The best place for that to be tackled is at a local authority level, both for the reasons Deputy Ó Broin was talking about in terms of the democratic process required but also because each area is different. Each area needs to use local knowledge and involve planners in that. The more we can involve the forward-planning sections in local authorities on this and the less that is done centrally, the better the outcomes will be. Those matters go hand in hand. I would be interested to hear from the Minister in terms of timelines.