Aubrey McCarthy (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his opening statement and for being here. The Minister has an unenviable job. I genuinely wish him well. I am looking at the housing crisis. I am new to politics, as the Minister knows. From looking at homebuyers, tenants and the homeless, with whom I have worked for many years in Tiglin, I see this as an absolute national emergency. I see teachers, medical staff and other critical staff leaving the country. The likes of the IDA are at risk of not being able to attract companies because their employees cannot get accommodation. This should be a national emergency. I know the Government’s Housing for All plan, as well as Sinn Féin’s A Home of Your Own plan. I have looked at both of them. I would love, in my naivety, if all parties could work together to make a difference here.

While I am delighted to see progress in areas of housing regulation, I am concerned about the size of the studio being reduced to the equivalent of two car parking spaces. I hope we do not go back to the Liam Carroll shoebox-type idea, which can be seen all along the quays.

I have a few questions regarding critical blockages. The first relates to planning delays and where political interference and legal challenges delay housing beyond the extreme. In other countries, such as Denmark and the UK, but it also happened in the Dublin docklands, publicly consulted development plans are decided at the start, which are legally binding and become the master plan. Once adopted, compliant development goes ahead and progresses automatically without any interference at a later stage. Is that an option? Does the Minister agree that effective housing delivery can only happen when planning puts people before politics?

The second question concerns the population caps. In areas like my own in Kildare, I see millions of taxpayers' money being spent servicing lands and getting them ready for building, only for the planners to be blocked from progressing housing due to population limits in the area. As Minister, would he be able to lift those caps immediately in areas where land is fully serviced, development ready and has the support of local planners? We had an issue in Kildare recently with an in-field site. People were told at pre-planning that there was no point in discussing it because the local authority’s population numbers have been exceeded already.

The third question I have is the viability and affordability. The Minister, in his interaction with Deputy Stanley, addressed the fact that builders are not building. It is because they cannot get funding unless a scheme is viable. Buyers cannot afford a home unless prices come down. As Minister, will he commit to reducing cost pressures, such as reducing taxes and levies, in order that homes can be seen as affordable and then delivered?