Mr. Conor O'Connell:

For the existing planning permissions the tax will not apply. The way it is currently worded, it applies to planning permission lodged from 1 December 2024 and 1 December 2025. If one applies after that, then the tax will apply. All existing planning permissions will not have this tax applied.

On the whole activation measure, there are new compact growth guidelines, which are about to be published by the Department, and which will allow for high density own-door units to be developed in brownfield locations, in suburban locations and all other locations. We are very supportive of that method of achieving high density, or to match or achieve the density guidelines that are there at the moment. In many instances, builders would have had to apply for apartments when maybe they would have preferred to apply for own-door units or houses but to achieve the density requirements, they applied for planning permission for apartments. Subsequently, when they applied for planning permission for apartments, in lots of instances the real estate investment trusts, REITs, were in the market and there were these international sources of finance that unfortunately now, post Covid and post the start of the war in Ukraine-----