Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the planning legislation and long-overdue overhaul of An Bord Pleanála. The Bill will ensure the recruitment arrangements for the appointment of members of An Bord Pleanála are updated, streamlined and more appropriate to the complex environment in which they now operate. It is planned to introduce amendments to the Bill to enable expedited planning for the construction of social and affordable homes on local authority-owned lands. Crucially, these emergency powers, when enacted, will apply to lands owned by local authorities and will be very time-limited and specific. I welcomed the Minister's reassurance on these when he spoke earlier.

The proposed planning amendment will enable us to make quicker progress in providing much-needed housing, including for the most vulnerable on our waiting lists, while also providing an opportunity to accelerate affordable and cost-rental delivery.

It is important that I take this opportunity to reflect on the progress the Minister and his team have made in providing housing in rural Ireland, specifically County Longford. County Longford and a coterie of other rural counties face the same issues as the rest of the country, namely, soaring rents, supply shortages and rapidly increasing building costs. More troubling, Longford's local authority and several others face a unique scenario in that they were locked out of the affordable housing scheme due to an inability to meet the affordability criteria. Effectively, it was still cheaper to build a house than to buy one in Longford, with the average second-hand price being €150,000. The local authority was paying €289,000 for new three-bedroom semi-detached homes, which are the standard homes of those entering the housing market.

The Minister and I discussed this issue many times and both of us realised that what was faced in Longford and probably nine other rural counties was a unique problem. It was, in fact, an availability issue. Under the Minister's direction, Department officials worked with Longford County Council. I am pleased we are now on the cusp of a solution regarding affordable housing for Longford town. The moral of the story is that Housing for All offers us an unprecedented suite of measures to support and drive housing supply. More important, Housing for All is a fluid document and the Minister and his team are ready and willing to work on bespoke solutions when local authorities and elected representatives are prepared and willing to come forward with them. I am in no doubt that the planned affordable housing scheme for County Longford will be a success and will be replicated in other counties.

The housing challenge is vast. We are making genuine progress, much to the dismay of the Minister's detractors. It will not be an overnight project, however. As much as our affordable housing scheme is a critical component in addressing a very specific issue in County Longford, so too is the planning and development legislation before the House.

Today proves the Minister's ability to tackle the issues, identify the deficits and put in place the building blocks that will ultimately resolve a crisis that has defined our generation.

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