Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the middle of a housing disaster, with a whole generation locked out of affordable home ownership, building is simply not taking place at the scale or speed necessary. Yesterday in Limerick, I saw a promised housing site that has lain idle for decades, despite being in public ownership. It is now in the control of the Land Development Agency which, apparently, has are no plans even to commence the planning process until 2028. That is an extraordinary delay. The Government must overhaul the planning and public construction system. As we look at the shambles at An Bord Pleanála, is the Government planning a radical overview of the board? A few moments ago, the Minister said the Government would have a planning Bill before this House in the coming weeks. Will that Bill include the necessary reforms to An Bord Pleanála? These reforms were recommended in a 2016 report commissioned by Deputy Kelly when he was Minister. It provided a series of vital recommendations that, had they been implemented then, would have prevented the shambolic system we are now seeing in An Bord Pleanála.

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