Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and also that we are providing additional time for the completion of county development plans. These plans are the basis for the planning and development of local authority areas for the next five years so we need to provide local authorities with adequate time to get them right.

We are now in a situation where housing supply is at crisis point. In that context, I have a number of concerns about county development plans and the way land is zoned. As others have said, cities like Cork, Waterford, Galway, Limerick and Dublin cannot be planned or developed in the same way as rural towns and villages or the larger regional towns. My experience in recent years, particularly with regard to the most recent county development plan for Galway, is that the zoning of land is very restrictive. There is not an adequate supply of zoned land for residential development in our towns and villages. This is because zoning decisions must be based on projected population growth. I have found that land is zoned for residential development and is called R1, which is the preference for building on, but for one reason or another that land never becomes available for development. It can be that the owner does not want to sell it or that there are legal issues with the ownership of the land. We are then creating pent-up demand for zoned residential land when we should not be doing so. We should be making sure that we have an ample supply of land available in each town and village so that we can build and not be overly confined. I have come across cases where land has been zoned within a town and on a map it looks perfect for residential development. The only problem is that the site is landlocked, with no safe access into it off a major road. In such situations, that land should not be zoned. When local authorities are working on their county development plans they cannot account for all eventualities and the proportion of land that is zoned for residential use is too low. We need a better supply of such land.

I have a concern about the proposed Land Development Agency, LDA. I do not know why it is being brought into being because it will not be providing the land. I know from my experience in the construction industry that land that is zoned will be built on where it can be built on, if it is viable. The local authorities can deal with that but they need the time to look at this in more detail and to make sure that whatever lands they are zoning can be built on over the next five years.

I welcome the proposal to extend existing planning permission. A lot of projects were held up over the last 18 months because the construction sector was in lockdown. Now we have an opportunity to give the sector the breathing space it needs to carry out its work. The extension of the duration of existing planning permission is to be welcomed. However, I note that this will only apply if work has commenced and "substantial" works have been carried out. What is the proposed definition of substantial works? That might create confusion and if left open to interpretation, it will make it difficult for people when they are trying to get work done. Given the way we have dealt with the construction industry over the last 18 months, we should consider extending the duration of all existing planning permission, whether work has commenced or not. In some cases where people were planning to build a one-off house, for example, they could not get the funding because they could not start the work and they had to reapply for a loan. We must do something to make sure that those who went to a lot of trouble and expense to get planning permission are given ample time to build, regardless of whether the work has started. We are here today talking about housing and about the fact that this is what it is all about. If our policies are right, then everything should fall into place in time.

One other issue that concerns me with regard to county development plans and the way we plan is that there may be an agenda to stop people building in rural areas. In particular, members of farm families are not being allowed to build on their family land. That is wrong. We need to clean that up once and for all and make a clear statement on it. People are concerned about what will emerge from the Minister's review of rural housing.

People should be allowed to build on family land and near their parents. Family support, whether by older or younger people, is what makes many communities. A house built in a rural area adds to the local school, football or hurling club and keeps the community young and vibrant. In saying that, I am not seeking ribbon development or anything like that but we are beginning to rule out the possibility that people can build a house on their family lands, which is wrong. It is wrong because I know from my constituency that our towns and villages cannot accommodate housing as they do not have the necessary infrastructure. They do not have sewerage schemes and, in some cases, they do not have water schemes.

I heard a spokesperson for Irish Water on radio this morning discussing an issue of huge importance, namely, the need to ensure Irish Water is in sync with local authorities in the development of our towns and villages. The spokesman stated Irish Water may not have sufficient services in the peripheries of these towns and villages. I can tell the Minister of State that Craughwell, Corofin, Abbeyknockmoy and other towns and villages in east Galway that I could spend all evening naming do not have municipal wastewater treatment plants. It is not possible to get planning permission to build a house or housing development within these town and village centres. An Bord Pleanála will refuse them on the basis that any development of these centres is premature until there is a municipal wastewater treatment plant in place. We have to tackle that straight away.

We talk a great deal about housing and what is wrong but if we do not arrest the problems in the supply chain that are bedevilling construction, we will have another crisis on our hands. Building contractors cannot build because they cannot get materials or materials are rationed. Prices for building materials have gone sky-high and resources are scarce. When we have people building houses on a fixed price contract for the local authorities and they cannot get a price for materials that will last more than seven days, we have a serious problem on our hands with regard to the viability of the construction sector.

This is not a temporary issue. We must recognise the need to change it. One of the typical examples is timber. Why do we have a shortage and why are prices going up? It is because we made a mess of planning and licensing for the forestry industry. We have created a shortage, which continues because the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine does not have the necessary resources to deal with the licensing applications coming into it.

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