Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 154 is a good amendment in its reference to "promotion of sustainable development consistent with a focus on improving human health and well-being and the establishment of metrics and criteria for evaluating these considerations".

I will give the Minister one example that is pertinent and becoming very apparent all over the place. Although development is increasing, there is a massive deficit of sports facilities. One of the huge pluses is that we have loads more women involved in sport such as soccer, rugby and all the rest of it. That is a big plus. What it has revealed, however, is an incredible deficit in sports facilities and sports pitches for the huge increase of people who are now participating in sport, particularly the dramatic increase in women participating. The changing facilities were bad enough when they were for men only, but now when women need proper facilities as well, it reveals a huge deficit. That is just one area where these sorts of things have to be considered in a serious and detailed way to make sure we have those kinds of amenities that promote human health and well-being. It is not just about houses, as much as we need them. It has to be about all the other things that need to go with that development.