John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill, and I am pleased that many who have contributed on the opposite side of the House have found an enthusiasm for Part V of the Planning and Development Act. As the rate of delivery under Part V increases year by year, so will the enthusiasm for it. It should be remembered that it was introduced and amended by this Government. I state that to make the following specific point.

When it was introduced and amended, there was a clear understanding that delivery would take a number of years because there were current and existing planning applications that would be built. This was a brave thing, as there was a lead time. As is the function of Opposition, during that lead time it was easy to knock Part V. A year could be picked when delivery under Part V was quite low, and it could be stated that nothing was achieved. Each year as it delivers more, there will be a new-found enthusiasm for it.

I wish to be fair to Sinn Féin and particularly Deputy Crowe by assuming the legislation he has put down is well-intentioned, where the intention is to improve Part V. Last night, Deputy Crowe stated:

We want to amend the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2002 to oblige developers to provide 20% of social and affordable housing and remove the option for developers to make a financial contribution to local authorities in place of providing social and affordable housing units. This will ensure that Part V delivers social and affordable housing in an integrated manner, as originally envisioned.

It was amended because Part V would not and could not do what was originally intended. I agree with the ideology, which is to be admired. The approach envisaged by the Deputy is both naive and flawed. I do not think Deputy Crowe really believes we should go back to the old system. If we did, what would happen? We would have a rigid system which would result in some houses coming to the market under Part V as affordable housing with price tags of €500,000, €600,000, €700,000 or €1 million. If the rigid system requested by the Deputy was in place, there would be so-called affordable housing.

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