Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. This policy and proposal was developed by Deputy Coveney when he was Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in consultation with his officials. It is entirely reasonable that he would consult industry too when making a policy decision. The intention and idea behind it was to fast-track the planning system to make sure that builders who want to build houses that people need to buy, rent and live in could get planning permission more quickly. Instead of having to go through a two-step planning process of applying to the council, getting permission and then possibly having an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, if a builder was going to build 100 apartments, houses or homes, or more, that builder could go straight to An Bord Pleanála, thereby skipping one of the two steps. The idea behind that was to speed up the planning process to get planning permission more quickly and for houses to be built more quickly, therefore having more homes for people sooner. I thank Deputy Martin and his party for voting for the legislation that allowed that to happen. He neglected to mention that.

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