Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is an explicit and important recognition of the value of the work our environmental NGOs do in the planning process, whether through European Union directives or the Aarhus Convention. Traditionally, this aspect has been reflected in their treatment by the Government and in the legislative process. The Oireachtas housing committee engages with environmental NGOs on pre-legislative scrutiny of schemes and their unparalleled expertise inform the report ultimately produced by the committee. However, by the time we produced this report, the Minister had already introduced the legislation. That is not the way it should operate. Do not get me wrong. There are times when the process has to be fast-tracked, but it seems to be happening too often. This flies in the face of the participatory nature of environmental decision-making and the legislative process. I ask the Minister to look at those actions going forward. We want to be supportive and constructive.

When the Minister announced last week or the week before the €100 million targeted towards local authorities' debt, I welcomed that. I think there is another €200 million in debt there. I remember that that debt was a huge burden on my council, Cork City Council.

We want to see those sites developed with housing. The biggest barrier to solving the housing emergency is staffing and resources for local authorities. That is what I hear on the ground. If we want to deliver the housing we need, we need to resource them.

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