Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)

I will start on zoning, which has been a hobbyhorse of mine since, and its complexity. Let us take Wicklow as an example. Let us hope that section 28 is going through the process. I know that conversations are going on in the background, so I would not give up on it yet, but only three weeks ago, we adopted the Greystones plan in Wicklow, where we only zoned 3.2 ha of land to build new residential structures on, and land that we could build on a month ago, we now cannot build on because it has been dezoned down to R2 land. This is the largest, fastest-growing population in Wicklow. On the other extreme, Arklow has just gone on public display for observation. Some 50% of the land is being dezoned after we invested €149 million in a wastewater treatment plant to give additional capacity for an additional population of 22,500, and the national planning framework says it can only grow by 80 houses a year.

This is a problem everywhere. I have always said that zoning is a major issue. We have to work with the Minister and get the key counties around the table to try to take this opportunity. We have an opportunity under section 28 to do the zoning of land that is required to build the houses that we need. I have a quick question for later as to whether the Minister went far enough with the additional headroom he provided and the additional 50% that he has given to do that. On the section 28 matter, it was not quite clear whether the officials have the power to only go to within the lifetime of the plan, which in Wicklow's case was 2028, the horizon in the plan of 2031, or the Minister's figure for 2034 and 2040 that they should carry out the review on. Senator McCarthy spoke about councillors. They are presented with a core strategy and land zoning. The work that they have to do after that to zone land is complex and fraught with much danger in relation to how it is perceived.

I want to move on to the infrastructure bit because it is critical, and the whole judicial review, JR, part. Mr. Conor O'Connell mentioned that the greater Dublin drainage scheme started at the very same time as the Arklow wastewater treatment plant. Arklow is finished and up and running, and the greater Dublin drainage scheme is still stuck in the planning process. Having looked at legislation called the Prisons Act 2007, the Minister has the powers to present a scheme for a prison for public consultation. He does appropriate assessment, environmental impact and all of that, looks at the reviews, and then makes his decision about whether to proceed with that planning or not. The only way that can be stopped is through judicial reviews. The problem we still have is the JR process. In fairness, I think the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is looking at the JR process and its common good aspect, which must supersede everybody's other needs, but infrastructure like water, sewerage, power, the grid and so on are now critical infrastructure that must be delivered. We have to take the bold decisions that are available to us to do it.

I might spend some time on the proposed urban development zones. Have any of the developers here started that process with the local authorities? It is a model that may overcome some obstacles. They work together. We are looking at large sites for delivery of housing. It goes through almost a variation of the county development plan, but once it is done, it is done, and the developers are finished, as long as they comply with what was agreed. Have any of the witnesses started working with local authorities on that?