Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will make a quick point and leave time for Deputies Gould and O’Callaghan.

The short-term gains have to be on both the public and private sides. Regarding soft costs, developers’ margins and VAT are roughly the same quantum in terms of the impact on the overall cost of a private sector unit. The private sector would probably be smarter if it advocated for burden sharing in that respect. If we start reducing VAT, it reduces the tax revenue for schools. We saw headlines in newspapers today about the Department of Education being concerned about residential planning applications for areas where there were no school places.

I agree with Mr. O’Connell on strict timelines, but they must apply to both the public and private sectors. Just as there should be statutory timelines for planning decisions by the board and for an environment court to dispense with legal challenges speedily, there should be timelines as regards planning permissions, planning applications and commencements. If we started to say that, outside of exceptional circumstances, rigid timelines applied to the development process for public and private, it would benefit everyone. If the CIF is arguing for action on the State’s side, taking a little pain on the private side would strengthen that case. I say this respectfully.

I thank the witnesses for their contributions, which have been helpful.