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

I thank the Deputy. The thinking behind the SHDs was to speed up planning and to get planning permissions through more quickly for housing and apartments. It did not work which is why we had to change our policy on strategic housing developments by going back to something similar to an older system where the application is made to the council first and then there is a right of appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

From the Deputy’s contribution it sounds to me that she thinks judicial reviews are all about housing. They are not. A major expansion of Intel in north Kildare was threatened by judicial review. It was a hugely important project for this country in terms of our industrial development and the tax revenues we receive to help pay for healthcare, childcare and housing and in providing jobs for people, not just in Kildare but in the Deputy’s constituency, Wicklow, and in my constituency, Dublin West. Really important road projects are threatened by judicial reviews. In time, I am absolutely sure that we will see the same happen with the metro and other important public infrastructure projects.

It is a problem that the building of important public infrastructure, such as roads, railways and windfarms to help deal with climate action, cost more and take longer in Ireland, in part because of judicial reviews. We need to deal with that.

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