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

Therefore, we may well get into dangerous territory if we start trying to define hoarding and if politicians decide what is and is not a viable proposition on a site. That is a somewhat dangerous space in which to be. The House should consider what it costs us to build social housing. I can think of a number of social housing projects where the houses, excluding land, have cost us €170,000 or €180,000 to build, whereas in many parts of the country we still talk about three-bedroom semi-detached houses selling for €70,000 or €80,000. We have a broken housing market at the moment, and we must recognise that. The one thing we need to ensure in this legislation is that we do not make a bad situation worse in some parts of the country, including Dublin for that matter.

I take on board Senator Norris's sentiment. The Government will think about the proposal and see if we can put something in the Bill that attaches a consequence to someone who receives planning permission in respect of a site if he or she does not move on the site. In other words, we want people in this new streamlined planning system who want to build straight away to benefit from the system, not people who seek planning permission now with a view maybe to selling on the site in five or six years' time. I will consider the ways in which we might be able to work towards that objective.

However, the consequence of the Senator's request would mean that reasonable developers who want to get on with planning and building houses on a site which they have purchased and which has zoning would be prevented from doing so because they happen to own another site that is less attractive or for which they cannot get finance for whatever reason. That would be unnecessarily restrictive, and I think it would have a consequence that we may not want, even though I totally take on board the frustration about the matter.