Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

We can come back to that in a moment. Other actions needed include: resourcing An Bord Pleanála properly; enacting and commencing the various provisions of the Planning and Development Acts in order that we can speed up the delivery of planning, because planning decisions are holding back the delivery of homes and infrastructure; increasing the zoned land for housing, and that is what the national planning framework the Minister for Housing brought before this House was all about - making sure we have enough zoned lands to deliver the homes we need in each of our communities; and providing more funding and a better way of delivering key infrastructure like water and energy.

It is hard to take a lecture from Deputy Doherty in relation to water after his party politicised the issue of water so much to try to stymie progress in recent years. His party continues to mislead people about the Government's intentions in respect of Irish Water.

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