Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes and I am seconding it. I hope the Minister will also be amenable to supporting the amendment as it is practical. We spoke earlier about the concerns and obstacles to large-scale planning development and how strategic projects were not happening. It is very important for us to be clear that we are not simply looking at answering a wish list from the construction industry. I am sure that is not the intention of the Minister. If there are to be large-scale developments but if there is an absence of them, it is not entirely to do with planning and planning simply is not the issue. The facts belie that because, as the Minister indicates, there are 28,000 outstanding planning permissions.

This amendment is extremely practical, indicating that we cannot be dependent on the construction industry and its whim to turn on or off the building of houses in Ireland. Currently it very much seems that the industry is setting the agenda. It decides if it will build and is trying to set the rules around how and when it will build. If this Bill has the serious intent of delivering long-term solutions and large-scale housing developments, it must have both elements; it must demand something from the construction sector as well.

Thanks to research from Deputy Burton, we know that many people in the construction industry are not paying tax at the very reasonable 12.5% level because they are using methods similar to those used by others in America, including the recent very high-profile case, to write off their current profits against previous losses. We know that between the construction and financial services there was in 2014, for example, more than €1.2 billion written off as taxes not to be paid because they could be written off against previous losses. The construction industry is not contributing in the way it should be in tax terms. Many of the major actors in the construction industry have been building elsewhere in the recent period and it seems that at times we are almost at their mercy when it comes to building in Ireland and whether they will be happy with a certain level of profit. The citizens of Ireland, both those in vulnerable housing positions and those seeking to buy, do not have recourse to such tax measures. The citizens of Ireland do not have the leisure to wait and see if they can get 10%, 12% or 15% profit on their endeavours. There is a significant number of people in Ireland working at a loss or to break even on their lives. We want to help those people.

We have been supporting the Minister moving forward in this planning area but we want him to add a robust message to the construction industry that all those who seek to avail of this new planning structure - fast-tracking, if that is the label to be attached to it - should not be allowed to do so while they sit on planning permissions for up to 28,000 units in Dublin alone, as we have heard. Any construction company or developer wishing to avail of this should have to demonstrate good faith and that they will act on a planning permission. The proposal is very simple in that a commencement notice must be submitted to the relevant planning authority for any outstanding planning permission for 100 units or more before an application under this section and this proposal can be made. This must be unarguable if there is seriousness on all sides of society, including the construction industry and developers. It is about stepping up to the collective challenge and let the developers show good faith by filing commencement orders relating to outstanding large-scale projects. It is not about every house in Ireland. They should begin building right away, even without having waited for the new orders to come through.

This is a very reasonable proposal and I would like the Minister to indicate if he can support it and we can send that message. If he cannot do so, I would like to know the reason. I cannot see any reasonable argument against this amendment.