Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I am opposing amendment No. 9, which proposes to remove section 6(4), which provides the specific criteria to be used by a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, in determining whether there is a need for housing in an area, with reference to the following: housing strategy and the core strategy of the planning authority; house prices and the costs of renting houses in the area; the number of households qualified for social housing support that have specified the area as an area of choice, and any changes to that number since the adoption of the development plan; and whether the number of houses available for purchase or rent in the area is less that 5% of the total number of houses in the area. These are the criteria that give teeth to the whole Bill. It would be a mistake to delete them.

In any process, Deputies will agree, we should have an appeals mechanism. Otherwise, we are opening ourselves up to the risk of legal challenge. This section in the Bill is intended to further elaborate and strengthen the definition of a vacant site consisting of residential land in section 5. It provides clarity and justification for the identification of vacant sites and the provision of housing on such sites in areas where there is a housing need. The removal of this provision, as proposed in this amendment, would diminish the legislation.