Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make the point, even though I do not know if it is a fair analogy, that Irish Water is another entity that shares many assets. There are many overlapping matters here. Irish Water is far from ideal but at least, despite all its flaws - and it has many - it has a very linear structure that allows local elected representatives to query matters and get answers within a day or two. Hearing that TII only has 15 people to do that, answers the question. I ask Mr. Walsh to talk to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. That unit needs to be better resourced.

This leads me to my next question regarding TII having been tone deaf to a very rural issue. As Mr. Walsh knows, counties prepare county development plans, which are the bibles, if you like, for how development should happen in counties. I live in County Clare and, like every county, it has different demographics and pockets. The part I live in is quite urbanised. When you go west and north of Ennis, heading towards the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher and the beautiful Wild Atlantic Way, remarkably, most of the road networks are classified as regional or national routes. A number of weeks ago, TII meddled with the Clare county development plan. At the eleventh hour, TII said there could be no more housing development on regional and national roads. I agree with that most of the time. From a road safety point of view, we should not be developing along these roads. However, if that rule is taken and applied to a county such as Clare, and I am sure it is relevant to many other counties, maybe one third of the county is entirely taken out from having the potential to develop. There were some caveats to the TII position. It stated that where the speed limit is 80 km/h or lower, then development could be entertained. However, what it means in real terms, is that there is no more development along the N68, the N85, the N67, the R460, the R457, and the R484, which maps out pretty much all the roads west of north Clare. This means that villages such as Inch, Lissycasey, Connolly and Kilmaley are just shut down.

I have contacted the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, regarding this decision, which is very punitive. As Minister, he has to strike a balance between housing development and road safety. Road safety has to be paramount, but an old gauge, applicable until January this year, was that each and every housing application was assessed on its own merits and it if was not safe, permission was not granted. That was the right way to do it. Why bring in the blanket rule? I would like someone to explain. Who is the architect of this proposal?