Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is population growth that is real and is there, whether there are infrastructural deficits in an area or not. If we take wastewater, for example, we know there are areas of the country where there are deficiencies in wastewater provision. Permissions are refused on those grounds and will still be. This is about the housing supply targets, and when we are reviewing them in the new NPF, we will be coming forward with new housing targets. Even if we parked the infrastructure, and it is not about capacity being used, if we look at the conversion rates of permissions that are being granted versus what actually happens on the ground, in some areas of the country it can be down to 20% or 30%. We would be looking at a situation then whereby good applications that could come in for good plan-led developments, all in line with their county's development plan, I might add, would be refused on the basis that the target had effectively been met. That is not a situation we should have, to be frank. It is to be clear with the planning authorities that that flexibility, that headroom we spoke about, exists for them in line with their development plan and in line with lands that are zoned already as part of the plan.