Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am inclined to support my colleagues, Senators Higgins and Grace O'Sullivan. I am aware of a site not too far from my home where the developer held back the last seven houses and has recently put them back on the market with the price increased by €100,000. These were houses costing €700,000 which have gone up to €800,000. It was a smart move - a couple of weeks and he suddenly made a massive killing. I also have personal knowledge of the forward buying that took place during the madness of the noughties, if one wants to call them that. People who never put a brick on top of a brick bought large sites, got planning permission on them and then flipped them on. The flip-on was where they made serious money. The amendment tabled by Senators Higgins and O'Sullivan acknowledges that those kind of people simply cannot exist. The effect of the proposed amendment would be that if one buys a site and gets planning permission on it, one must commence development before one looks for planning permission somewhere else. That is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. I hope we do not have to put this to a vote. I hope the Minister will reflect on it and come back on Report Stage with something that would meet the sentiments of the amendment.

The other thing is the definition of viability. I do not know how the Minister defines viability. His view of what is viable and my view of what is viable may be very different. I could have sites in one part of Dublin and I will leave them because there is not enough profit in them but if I go over to the other side of Dublin I can buy 100 sites and make a serious killing on it. There is huge merit in this amendment and perhaps the Minister will reflect on it before Report Stage and see if he can bring something back to meet the requirements of the two Senators involved.