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

I am not sure if the figures I was given yesterday were authenticated or not but they indicated that approximately 16,000 homes have received planning permission under this fast-track planning process. Some 6,000 of those are either built or being built. Approximately 10,000 have yet to commence but they may yet commence in the next few months or the next year. There is always a time lag when building new homes or apartments. It does not just happen. One has to apply for planning permission, then go out to tender and then the home needs to be built and is occupied. That figure of 6,000 could be 7,000 to 10,000, or even higher, in the next couple of months. It is important that we assess policy changes since they are not always right and it is appropriate after two, three or four years to look back and see whether a policy was effective or not.

One has to consider the counterfactual, that if the builders had gone through the old process, through the council and An Bord Pleanála, and ask if the commencement rate would be any higher. Deputy Martin is assuming it would but has no evidence to back that up. He cannot assume it would be higher. If it is in the interests of landowners or builders to secure planning permissions to increase the value of their land, they can do that under the old process too. They can just as easily go to the council and get planning permission from 100 or 150 houses and still not build on it. It is reasonable to look at the counterfactual when considering whether a policy change or initiative worked, not just at what has happened. It is indisputable that there has been a considerable increase in the level of housing construction in the last years. Three or four years ago, almost no new homes were being built in Ireland. Some 20,000 new homes are now being built every year, with 45,000 new homes built since I became Taoiseach. We need to keep increasing that number towards 30,000 or 35,000 a year.

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