Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----or since the Minister, Deputy Coveney, came into the Department. When the planning legislation that is currently going through the Seanad is enacted, the national planning framework will then be on a statutory basis. It was always expected that the Government would consult on the draft document, would then make changes to the plan based on that consultation period that we had and would not need to go back to the Dáil for a vote on those changes made following the consultation. Again, if that was the intention of the legislation, it would say as much in the legislation, and it does not. We have followed the process faithfully. There was a motion before both Houses last year, the motion at the Oireachtas joint committee to submit a report, and we reflected on that report as part of the draft consultation and on those concerns raised. We tried to incorporate them into the final document as best we could. When the planning legislation passes in the Seanad, it will put the national planning framework on a statutory basis. If we were to wait for the planning legislation to pass in the Seanad before the Government finalised the national planning framework and the national development plan, it would not have changed in any way the process that we undertook and would not give any greater power to the Oireachtas than those powers that have already been exercised in the process that we followed. However, if the planning legislation were delayed, many of the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal would not be implemented, we would not be able to set up the independent office of the planning regulator, which I am already in the process of trying to do and which I want to do as quickly as possible, and we would not be able to do other important things such as designating data centres as national strategic infrastructure.

I very much welcome the housing commitments in the national development plan beyond those in Rebuilding Ireland. In 2021, under Rebuilding Ireland, we will bring approximately 12,000 new homes into the social housing stock. This ambition is maintained for every year of the national development plan to 2027. This means that roughly one third of all houses produced in the State from 2021 onwards will be social housing homes brought into that social housing stock by the State for citizens who need our help the most. I also welcome the commitment on water in the national development plan. More than €5 billion in additional funding is now being provided to Irish Water and to our strategic water ambitions beyond that which is already committed in the existing plan for Irish Water to 2021. Project Ireland 2040 is a very ambitious plan for our country. This is a great opportunity for us as a Government but also as an Oireachtas to put in place a strategic plan for every citizen in every community in our country.

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