Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill to give effect to an affordable housing scheme and which contains issues around cost rental and Part V. The scheme is long overdue. It is unfortunate that the previous Government did not provide one but thankfully the programme for Government compelled the Minister to bring forward a Bill such as this and thankfully he is doing so.

The legislation will apply to future planning but it will not be or cannot be retrospective and, therefore, it cannot apply to all of those thousands of units held up in a planning process that I am afraid is not fit for purpose in the context of a housing emergency. It is this issue that I would like to address during the short time I have been allocated. I want to lay out an issue which is the greatest enemy to the supply of public and private housing, including social and affordable housing, namely, the planning process.

An opinion poll in The Irish Timeslast week highlighted the readiness and preparedness of the public to address the issue of objections to developments. Some might not be fazed by opinion polls but I am one of those who is. The opinion poll coincides with my views and opinions, which I have often relayed to my colleagues. I got written confirmation from the Minister that he is planning to bring forward a planning reform Bill in the autumn and I welcome that. I would hope that this Bill would then - and I wish it would do so earlier - overhaul the planning system, not just with the Bill I introduced last month setting out a time period for An Bord Pleanála decisions but I would seek to suspend the process of judicial reviews at a time of housing crisis and emergency. We had the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation at a time of financial crisis and that addressed and laid the foundations for the recovery of our public finances. Housing emergency measures in the public interest, HEMPI, legislation is necessary at this time.

Protracted and ridiculously long delays should not be tolerated. There were many and much financial packages and funds provided from outside the State that were initially made available on planning applications being granted. These have been withdrawn since because of the three, four and five-year delays that those providing the funding simply cannot comprehend. My proposal will not be popular with some but I am not here to try to please everybody. That sort of attitude is one that has us where we are.

I am satisfied, as a councillor for 18 years and as a Deputy for ten years, that sufficient improvements and protections in the planning procedures and means of appraisals over the years have restored and earned the credibility of the democratic planning process. We have seen, for example, the provision of a planning regulator in recent years. We see county development plans and the wide ranging consultative and reporting process that they involve are also subservient to national spatial strategies and regional development and planning guidelines. This all combines to convince me that the competitiveness, competence and professionalism of independent oversight and delivery of planning by our local authorities and An Bord Pleanála are sound. However, it is there that it needs to stop.

Fianna Fáil took on the housing portfolio in order to get housing done. At this time of emergency, when I look at judicial reviews and the issues around them, many of those issues, whether commercial or residential, are issues of the contention of those appellants in relation to Government policy and ideology and bear little impact, considering the impact they have on the crisis and those affected by it. I note that in residential, energy and afforestation cases, the same names appear in these files. It is crippling our economy and our ability to respond and provide homes in this country to those who need them most. The effectiveness of such drastic but necessary actions can be measured at the end of this Government's term and I would beg the Government to consider and exercise its authority and majority and move in this direction in these matters.

I again welcome the Minister's commitment to provide a reform Bill in the autumn. I ask that he give serious consideration to issues such as this that need to be addressed.

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