Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Leader back and hope he had a very productive summer. We will have a very intense period in the lead up to Christmas. I am aware the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and the Minister of State, Deputy English, have both been in this House in relation to housing and related issues. I am still of the view that we need to have a further constructive debate on this issue. I hope to see proposals from the Government on short-term lettings. While such proposals will not fix the housing crisis, they will very quickly put at least 1,000 additional units on the rental market. It may also have a positive impact in reducing rents in our main urban areas. The record across the world is a reduction of between 1% to 4% when short-term lettings are regulated. I hope to see these proposals very shortly and will welcome them.

The Government constantly refers to this as being a supply issue that has to be dealt with. An area I have repeatedly raised is Poolbeg West, the former Irish Glass site, where approximately 3,500 units could be developed over the short, medium and long term. It was very disappointing that An Bord Pleanála could not make a decision in relation to this site in early August because of lack of resources.

The Government has sent much additional work in the direction of An Bord Pleanála, and this is tying up and delaying planning decisions, which are badly needed right across the country. We allowed the number of inspectors to slip to as low as four or five. It has recently been brought up to 13 but now all planning proposals of more than 100 units are going directly to An Bord Pleanála. It needs to be resourced properly to deal with the level of work going in that direction. Otherwise we are going to see delay after delay regarding housing developments. We will need to see at least one additional staff member to do this work in a timely fashion. This is an effort to highlight where we can improve the supply element of this issue. It is not acceptable when we see a development that could supply 3,500 units delayed in An Bord Pleanála because of a resources issue. It should not be acceptable to the Government and we need speedy action on this.

I am aware Senator Grace O'Sullivan dealt with the issue of cycling and I am not going to go over that. I ask the Leader for a proper debate on transport. We need some proper ground rules. The particular Minister who attends talks out the debate and do not get answers. That is as frustrating for Fine Gael Senators as it is for Fianna Fáil Senators and for everyone else. We need proper interaction on transport when the Minister comes in. There has to be sufficient time for the Minister to address those points. I am aware it is difficult but it would be helpful to all in the House if we had a discussion with the Minister and proper engagement when he comes to the House rather than talking out issues.

On one famous occasion in the House, the Minister spoke at length about the Rugby World Cup and addressed no other issue raised by Senators. We have challenges in relation to the Metro line, BusConnects, cycling and pedestrians right across the country. We need that level of engagement with the Minister. I know it will be difficult for the Leader. It is a big job but I believe he is up to it. We have to have that discussion with the Minister and to try to get him to show a little bit of courtesy to this House.