Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot speak on matters that are sub judiceor are before the courts. I must be very careful in that regard. The legislation underpinning our role as Ministers and the role of the 31 local authorities is very clear and we are following what is prescribed. It is up to the courts to interpret that subsequently.

In regard to our shared vision of the relevant plans that flow through Government, something that is very clear from all our engagement with local authorities is that if land is serviced and has infrastructure, the last thing we want to see is it being dezoned. Such lands have the potential to deliver housing and are located in the right places. Section 10 of the draft development plan guidelines clearly sets out for local authorities the trajectory in which we want to see them going. I expect them to follow suit in that regard.

There will be a planned review of the NPF to take into account the updated information from the census. There is huge capacity in the framework. One of the things that often amazes me is that all but nine local authorities need to increase their housing supply targets by more than 100%. Following the Covid crisis, there is plenty of opportunity and scope in the NPF to hive out that capacity.

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