Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment, which is very good. As set out in the legislation, national planning statements are going to be significant. They will have huge influence in our planning system and be far-reaching. To have Oireachtas involvement, scrutiny and democratic input is very important. It is also important to get democratic buy-in. We are seeing in what is happening in planning now quite profound changes with respect to density. There is not always agreement or buy-in with that in local communities. There has not been sufficient discussion around the merits of densification and the challenges that come with it.

On Saturday morning, I was talking to constituents in an area where there is higher density development. They raised a ranged of issues, such as a lack of community facilities and spaces coming in along with that development. They referred to the lack of youth facilities and services, transport connections, etc. If we want to get buy-in regarding higher density development, there needs to be Oireachtas input. We need to be able to raise some of the challenges arising and get political responses. I am just using density as an example, because there are deficits in the delivery of what is needed to go with higher density development. Not having Oireachtas input means we can continue to have significant, profound changes above the heads of local communities such that they are simply watching what is happening, experiencing some of the challenges that go with it and not being able to get some of the issues that arise addressed by their public representatives.

Higher density development works very well when there are proper services, amenities and infrastructure. When these are lacking, there can be many challenges. I use that as an example because it is one of the areas that specific planning policy requirement, SPPRs, and national planning statements are presumably going to be used to address. There are also issues with how best to do increased density with respect to affordability, what sort of typologies we go for and how it can be achieved in some areas without necessarily having high-rise development and so forth. All that would benefit from Oireachtas input by the relevant committee. I do not see what is to be lost by doing that. I can only see what can be gained.