Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of our witnesses for being with us. I and most of us on the committee want this new Bill to amount to robust planning decisions as soon as possible, because that is how we need to respond to the housing crisis. It needs to do it through the delivery of homes and communities. That includes things like roads, public transport access, healthcare services and community amenities. All of that needs to be part of it. Dr. Duffy said that the planning system needs to be efficient and effective and it does but it also needs to be holistic. It needs to work and to increase our output and from that perspective I was particularly struck by what CIF said about proposals for 70,000 homes being with An Bord Pleanála for decision still and the fact that this is a potential two-year supply. An Bord Pleanála was before the committee last week and it was at pains to go through the resourcing issues and how it needs to be better resourced. We all agree with it on that and that is common ground for all of us in this room. It seems to also be common ground that there need to be statutory timeframes but I would be interested in hearing all four organisations opinions on what those timelines and deadlines should be tied to. There is a general feeling that a State organisation paying fines to developers is not necessarily the way forward.

The delivery of adequate homes is crucial when it comes to solving the housing crisis. I was interested to see IIP point to issues with the housing need and demand assessments, HNDAs, and I would like to learn more about that. I would also like PII to speak about the reliability of the assessments of need and the delivery time frames. I would like both of those organisations to elaborate on those points. Does PII have its own estimates based on the preliminary Central Statistics Office, CSO, data and the real-time lived experience of the delivery of homes? That would be helpful.

I was disappointed by CIF's statement on zoned lands and the need for an assumption of permission on zoned land prior to applications being made. That simplifies a complex situation. All of us who have worked on development plans deal know they deal with large swathes of land. They are all zoned as a big picture and what is on that land is not site-specific in terms of protected structures or the nature or ecology of it. None of that is looked at when land is zoned. I want to give CIF the opportunity to clarify that statement in case it wanted to couch it.

Wind Energy Ireland has spoken to us in this committee before about envelope flexibility. Did the Minister give Wind Energy Ireland any reason for not including it in the legislation? I ask our guests from Wind Energy Ireland to give us a little bit more indication on how we can support it to get the duration of operational life into the draft Bill.

I would like all the organisations to address how the timelines should be administered and what should they be tied to. I also put questions on the HNDA, the housing land, the zoned land and to Wind Energy Ireland. Maybe IIP would like to answer first.