Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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67. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has reviewed or plans to review staffing levels in the local authorities in view of the changes to the strategic housing development and large-scale residential developments legislation; if he will sanction extra posts to ensure that staff increases needed in the planning sections of the local authorities will not pull away from other sections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2455/22]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Talk about being found out. Fianna Fáil is in combative mood tonight. Here is a Fianna Fáil hoax, that it got rid of strategic housing developments, SHDs, before Christmas. As we warned, there was a flood of SHD applications for build-to-rent developments by greedy developers trying to get in on the gold rush in our area as soon as that legislation went through. The Minster said it would not happen. Among other things, as well as a whole load of unwanted private development, it is going to cause major staff problems for our local authorities, which are not equipped to deal with the new regime and the old regime at the same time.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department is working with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, in seeking to define more closely the resourcing needs of the local authority planning sector, and following on from the commitment on the adequate resourcing of planning authorities in Housing for All. This review will examine a range of factors and is advancing in parallel with actions on learning and development and digitalisation of planning which are also important components of delivering an effective service.

Most immediately, recent legislative changes have returned large-scale residential developments, LRDs, to local authorities, which will also involve an appropriate fee structure to ensure that local authorities can resource this function appropriately.

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each chief executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. In this regard, the assignment of local authority staff to a particular function, such as planning, is a matter for the chief executive. The Minister approved more than 200 new staff for local authority housing delivery teams in December 2021. These posts will increase the capacity of local authorities to initiate, manage and deliver new build housing schemes across the sector.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Since the Minister of State said the Government had abolished SHDs, there have been seven new applications for SHDs just on the Dún Laoghaire side of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. That is because the Government essentially allowed an extension for these build-to-rent developer-led developments. Ironically, some of the Government's local representatives are now running around saying that they are terrible developments. The only reason the applications were allowed to be made was because the Government voted down our amendments that would have closed down the SHD system completely. There would have been none of the outrageous developments that are now being proposed and are all about expensive built-to-rent apartments. Communities are overrun with them, as are local authorities. Local authorities have to deal with SHDs. The planning department in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is telling us that it will be dealing with new SHD applications until well into the end of this year at the same time as having to deal with LRD proposals under the new regime.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, we are over time.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It does not have the staff and the money being provided is going into general funds, not into creating new posts.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. I have a working stop watch.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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In the first instance, we have been clear that, under the new LRD arrangements, the relevant fees payable will be retained in full by the planning authority. This will give authorities increased funding to manage their staff and resources. The two-stage process is being restored and the local authority will give the decision closest to the local functional area, which is a positive move.

In the second instance, the Deputy used the term "gold rush". In December 2020, there were 21 applications at pre-consultation stage. There were 23 in 2021. I would not call that a gold rush when one looks at the facts. Of 350 applications that were made since the inception of the SHD process on 3 July 2017, 249 were granted.

We have made positive moves. In theory, one learns from past issues. The two-stage process will create value for local citizens by involving them in the decision making.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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SHDs were a scandal. They did nothing to address the housing crisis. They delivered overpriced rents to make money for developers. Since the announcement that this process would go, though, we had seven applications in December. There is murder in Sallynoggin over a nine-story construction. It is a working-class area where there are only two-storey houses but this will be a nine-storey building on a tiny site. It is developer led. In another case, there was planning permission for an SHD of 150 apartments but the developer lashed in 300 apartments onto the application just before Christmas. It is a scandal. The local authority is going to have to pick up the pieces, but it does not have the people to do so because they will be dealing with SHDs and LRDs. The money will go into general funds. We need people in the planning departments who can deal with these applications, but we are dealing with SHDs, which bypass the system. Even though the council still has to do all the work, the board makes the decision and the public have no right of appeal. It is a disgrace.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The negativity towards constructing new homes continues. In the first instance-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Government said that it was getting rid of SHDs.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Let me respond. In the first instance, I clearly articulated the resource base that a local authority would have. Heretofore under the SHD process, the resource base was shared 50-50 with the board but the local authority will now retain 100% of an application fee, which is significant. This will provide resourcing to ensure that the local authority has a robust planning department.

In tandem with that, a working group has been established with the County and City Management Association, CCMA - its first meeting is pencilled in for February - to examine and review local authorities' staffing arrangements in general, given the increased workload they will have. They will have resources to match that coming from the applications to them.

Many of the mandatory timelines in the SHD process are being adhered to within the local authority sector, which will lead to improvements by reducing further information requests and having in place a system that is more stress tested and slimmed down, which I hope will provide more valuable homes for our citizens.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are moving on to the next question in the name of Deputy Durkan, who, I am sure, will keep to time.