Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Joe FlahertyJoe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Good stuff. I thank Mr. Moran.

My next question is for the CIF. When we talk about house building, we are fixated on the big cities but it is a major problem in rural Ireland as well. Longford County Council did an exercise recently. Currently, it has 900 units for which there is planning but they have not been activated. We have a unique problem. Mr. Parlon will be familiar with this in County Offaly, which is not dissimilar to Longford. It is still significantly cheaper to buy a second-hand house than it is to build. This has escalated as a result of the Ukraine crisis and inflation.

The sector probably is not given credit for the significantly improved standard of housing that is being built now. We have learned our lessons from mica and apartment defects. Can the CIF give an indication of the standard and specifications and how Ireland compares with European countries and our closest neighbour, England? How significantly better are the houses being built now?

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