Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have another question for both groups on the work done by individuals, residents' associations, community and civic groups. This work could be on planning, in particular, related to the making of submissions. That work is often overlooked. There is a lot of work and time spent on comparing and contrasting development plans, imagining the impact applications would have, and ultimately writing submissions. I imagine it must be frustrating to do that, to see the planning granted with conditions, and then see that planning never acted upon. We are looking at approximately 50,000 planning permissions that have been granted permission but have never been developed, after all of the work done by individuals, groups and local representatives. We are in the middle of a housing crisis. Depending on who one listens to, there are either 40,000, 50,000 or 60,000 planning permissions that have not been delivered. What impact do the witnesses think this has on communities and on getting communities to continue engaging with the planning process?