Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

During the course of those hearings, significant criticism was levelled at the process by which the Bill was drafted and its contents. Some of the most damning criticism came from our planning professionals and the legal experts who work in the area of planning law. Others, including local authorities, developers, community organisations and environmental NGOs, also highlighted profound deficiencies with the process and, more importantly, the substance of the Bill. The committee's report, published in March, contained more than 150 recommendations, demonstrating the scale of change needed with the Bill. Indeed, Sinn Féin would have liked these committee recommendations to have gone much further.

Despite the joint committee undertaking the pre-legislative scrutiny in a timely manner, the finalisation of the Bill was greatly delayed. We were told by the Minister himself that it would be published before the Dáil's summer recess. Then it was to be at the start of September. Finally, a memo went to the Cabinet in early October, but the Bill was not actually published until last week. At a private briefing with departmental officials this week, members of the housing committee learned the Bill is still not complete and significant additions will be brought forward as amendments on Committee Stage. This week, the Minister wrote to my colleague Deputy Eoin Ó Broin-----

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