Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

We are in the middle of a deep and escalating housing crisis. House prices, rents and homelessness are all rising. Social and affordable housing targets are being missed again this year. Tá an ghéarchéim tithíochta ag cur todhchaí na Gaeltachta i mbaol ach fós níl na treoirlínte pleanála Gaeltachta feicthe againn agus níl faic déanta i dtaobh tithíocht inacmhainne nó tithíocht sóisialta a chur ar fáil do mhuintir na Gaeltachta inár gceantracha Gaeltachta. Government buries its head in the sand while rural communities are hollowed out, as young families cannot buy, rent or build homes in the communities where they were reared. An entire generation is locked out of home ownership, stuck in childhood bedrooms or overpriced rentals or forced to emigrate. There is no strategy to address the demographic crisis affecting rural communities.

This Bill is not in and of itself objectionable. The measures it contains are modest, in some cases necessary, but it will not solve the housing crisis. It is deeply misleading for the Government to present it as anything close to a serious response. The real and immediate structural problems driving the housing emergency in urban and rural areas are being ignored. Today's EPA report shows the serious failure by Government to invest in modern wastewater services. Bunmahon and Lismore in County Waterford are a case in point. In Bunmahon raw sewage enters the river and the sea and families are prevented from building because of a lack of capacity. In Lismore, the town is subject to frequent water outages and much-needed houses and apartments are refused planning permission, including 20 units last week. Until the Government gets real about investing in infrastructure, it will continue to fail rural communities, villages and towns when it comes to housing.

We were told the Planning and Development Act 2024 was a once in a generation reform. Instead, less than a year after its passage the Government is back in the Dáil with a clean-up Bill. That alone tells us the original process was rushed, incomplete and ultimately flawed, a metaphor for the Government's housing strategy and policy. We are not opposing the changes proposed in the Bill, but let us be honest, they will not move the dial on housing delivery and they certainly will not deliver the affordable homes that workers and families so badly need. This Bill will not solve the housing crisis and the Government knows it. What we have is a tidy-up Bill for legislation that was supposed to fix planning once and for all. However, it will not build homes, it will not cut rents and it will not help a single family locked out of housing.

The Government asked for constructive proposals. We are tabling them here through our amendments. If it is serious about solutions, it should start by accepting them. Sinn Féin is tabling practical amendments to improve the Bill to make it more effective. We are proposing to empower the Minister to set statutory timelines for judicial reviews so pauses do not become indefinite delays, to guarantee public participation both during the judicial review pause and the planning extension process in line with the Aarhus Convention and principles of good planning, to require developers to explain why a project has not commenced and to show how they intend to proceed it to avoid speculative land holding, and to reduce the window to commence works after an extension is granted from 18 months to six months to ensure extensions lead to delivery. Government Ministers routinely challenge the Opposition by asking where their ideas and solutions are. Here they are. Those are the four amendments I have just described. These are focused and reasonable proposals that will strengthen the legislation without causing delay. If the Government is serious about listening, now is the chance to do it. Let us not lose sight of the bigger picture. Planning reform is a tool and not an end in itself. Until the Government starts using that tool to actually deliver affordable homes at scale in every part of the country, we will be back here debating more patches and fixes while the crisis deepens.

I must say it is interesting to hear Government backbenchers seeking to blame all and sundry for the housing crisis. We heard the Taoiseach today blaming Dublin City Council for the housing crisis in response to a question from a Deputy on this side of the House. Until the Government gets real and accepts its role in this, that Government governs and that it has executive power to solve this housing crisis, I fear we will be going around in circles and will be back here debating the same thing again in another few months.

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