Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Again, the Minister of State really should read the report, because it says the grant rate for single dwellings is much higher and it is especially so in rural Ireland. It is almost over 90%. Thus, the mantra that planning objectors are slowing down applications for single dwellings in rural Ireland is just not true. Even in areas with the highest refusal rates the grant rate is 70% and usually 80%. The researchers then ask how there is planning permission for 42,000 apartments in Dublin, with that figure constantly rising, but there are only about 4,000 to 5,000 being built. The researchers say it is likely because people are getting planning permission to increase the value of their assets and speculating on the value of those assets and that they are banking land. The Government does nothing about that but its members keep on jumping up and down about planning.

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