Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could repeat what I said, if the Senator wishes, although perhaps not for a full 35 minutes.

I will try to answer some of the questions asked. There are elements of the programme which relate to victims of domestic violence, but if the Senator has further suggestions to make, I would like to hear them.

Regarding disability issues, I accept the points the Senator made. In this document there are many areas in which we are signalling intent, but we do not go into precise detail. There is almost a full page on the subject. There is a commitment to extend the national housing strategy for people with a disability and ensure it takes effect. I will talk to the Senator again about the issue separately. However, there is no lack of ambition. It is an attempt to include a series of different priorities and ambitions in a single document, without over-emphasising one over the others.

In response to other concerns outlined by Members, I wish to get a couple of things straight about the planning system. Many of the really bad planning decisions made in the past were made under the system in place. Sometimes councillors were at fault; sometimes it was the fault of planners and sometimes An Bord Pleanála made poor decisions. Building large housing estates on flood plains should not have happened, but the changes I am making to the planning system will not make them any less likely to occur. We must have a system that is robust and that we can trust but in which decisions are made faster. There is an emergency and the idea that we continue as normal, give everybody his or her say as normal and stick to normal time procedures will not do what we require. We must make decisions faster, but I emphasise that does not mean that we make poor decisions.

Primary legislation will be required to allow and instruct An Bord Pleanála to do what we will ask it to do under it. It will be brought through this House as well as the Dáil. Senators will have an opportunity to make the points they have made about the cost to the public to make objections and observations, the availability of information online and so forth. We can discuss all of those issues. I will ask the House to facilitate the passage of that legislation early in the autumn. I cannot simply say all planning applications for more than 100 houses must go to An Bord Pleanála. The current provision is protected by primary legislation which I will have to change. There will be an opportunity to tease out all of these issues and ensure we protect members the public in their ability to understand what is taking place and make observations and objections should they wish to do so. At the same time, however, we must resource An Bord Pleanála to make decisions in a timely manner - 18 weeks.

The approach of An Bord Pleanála will change. Instead of asking for further information which often pushes a process to over a year in length, it will make decisions in 18 weeks. The reason I have asked it to do this is that it will put a massive onus on developers to get the application right, consult locally and engage in proper and detailed pre-planning consultation with local authorities to ensure consistency with local development plans and so forth. Early on I suspect there will be a significant increase in the number of refusals by An Bord Pleanála, as opposed to giving the board the option of seeking further information and the process continuing. I am telling developers to get their applications in but to ensure they get them right before they are sent in in teasing through all of the issues. We are changing the emphasis by increasing the responsibility placed on the applicant and then ensuring the system makes decisions faster. I believe this can work. Local government will still have a big role to play in pre-planning consultation. If that consultation does not take place and if the application is not consistent with what local councillors have decided on in the local development plans, An Bord Pleanála will not grant planning permission. That is the thinking behind what we are doing.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill referred to vacant properties. There is a great deal in the action plan about what we could do in that regard. One of the Senator's suggestions is to provide grant aid to renovate properties to make them fit for purpose for rental. That is exactly what we are proposing to do. In fact, we are copying a scheme that has been very successful in the United Kingdom under which local authorities can approach a property owner and offer him or her three or five years rent upfront, which can act as a grant to get the property into a suitable condition for renting. After five years he or she will have a much more valuable property and he or she will have had a sustainable tenant for that period. There is a series of other proposals to make it easy to make the transition from commercial to residential without having to go through a long planning process to seek a change of use and so forth. I share the sentiments expressed by the Senator.

I wish to make a really important point about public private partnerships, PPPs, although I will probably run out of time.