Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have had the substantive debate, so I am going to ask just one question. I am aware that the Minister was present listening to the dialogue. Given that he is the lead Minister and is undertaking the lead review of the NPF, the HNDA and the targets underpinning his own housing plan, I am interested in hearing whether he has anything to add on the timeframe related to the census. Could he hear the logic of the arguments we were making? Particularly since we are likely to have significant economic growth, demographic change and inward migration for a variety of reasons, many of which are extremely positive, or unmet pent-up demand that is not dealt with by the census or HNDA, could the Minister consider moving away from an outer limit of ten to 12 years and a general provision specifying a review can take place at any time to a more specific provision requiring a more timely review after each census, particularly of the population targets underpinning the NPF? For very legitimate reasons, the CSO takes two years or more to publish data on a census. As the Minister knows, there are significant lags concerning the fundamentals of an NPF and the HNDA, affecting the Minister's housing targets, local authority land zoning, and local authority housing targets. Therefore, there is a rationale to having a shorter review period. Does the Minister see the logic in that?