Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

I apologise for coming back at the witnesses again. I get the sense that the witnesses are working hard, getting the train back on track and are making progress, but I do not get the sense that they understand the urgency we feel, given that we are dealing daily with people who are homeless. While the figures have improved and look as though they will continue to improve, they are still too long in several areas.

The witnesses have said that they do not need more staff. Maybe they feel they are unable to say they need more staff because, as civil servants, that is not necessarily the right thing to do. However, they do need more staff. If there is a backlog, there needs to be more staff to rectify that situation. There are no two ways about it.

We had Uisce Éireann in, which the witnesses have mentioned. It told us that it would not have the infrastructure in place until 2050 that was necessary for housing to be built. It said that permissions and consents were blocking its delivery of what it was looking to do. There is some nuance in that. It also said that the sequence of those permissions and planning consents was an issue. That is my first question for the witnesses to answer.

I am dealing with a builder in Navan who has been waiting 16 months for a planning application to be processed. In the jaws of the worst housing crisis in the history of this State, the witnesses can imagine how those two things are jarring. The idea that there is capacity and16-month waits while there is a housing crisis shows there is a problem.

The witnesses mentioned that the backlog was reducing, but the number of applications being made is also reducing. There has been a fall in the number of applications being made for the likes of apartments by 40% in recent times. The witnesses may be dealing with a backlog through better work, more efficiency and more capacity, but is it the case that some of that backlog reduction is because there is a reduction in the number of applications being made? That is my second question.

The third question relates to vexatious objections. There is a major problem with these in the State. I know of a farmer who is building a slatted shed in County Meath and some fella down in Cork has an ideological objection to farmers building slatted sheds. This individual is putting in an objection, even though he does not have a material interest in that type of situation.

The Government is talking about a change in planning law and extending the length of an application if there is a judicial review. Maybe now is the time to put in an amendment on who can make objections so that we limit that to those people who really feel a material impact or affect from a project. That might be a question Mr. Mullan can answer. I know of one particular case where I believe there is an objection going in on a planning application for blackmail reasons. An individual has actually asked for money so that he will not put in an objection to it. Mr. Mullan might speak to how we police that and mitigate that particular situation? That could be the fourth or fifth question.

There are cycles for everything in life. Sometimes, things are a good idea and, sometimes, they are not. Mr. Cussen mentioned he wanted to leave good planning behind. I agree with him because there has been so much developer-led development over the decades that it has been disastrous for this country. The witnesses might not like me looking at particular cases but there are cases where planning applications are being refused because they do not follow concentric settlement patterns. I am a big fan of concentric settlement patterns because many estates were built at an edge of towns while brownfield sites remained empty for years. Right now, however, I would not say that is the most important thing. I would say that, in a housing crisis with so many people homeless, we should build the bloody housing estate at the edge of the town for the moment to get people into the houses. Sometimes, there could be a regulatory lag and while our regulations were good for 2021, 2022 and 2023, getting people into homes is the issue right now. Counties such as Mayo, which has very few housing estates being built at the moment, are having housing applications knocked back because of concentric development patterns. That is the sixth question.

My last question is on the issue of turbines. We are still waiting for guidelines. Should An Coimisiún Pleanála be telling the HSE about issues such as a planning application for a wind turbine farm, given that for some people, like children with autism, sound levels might have an impact? Why does An Coimisiún Pleanála not notify the HSE of these types of thing?