Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in. I disagree with Senator Warfield's assertion that this has not been sought by local authorities. Senator Keogan and others in this Chamber, including Senator Cummins, raised some of the concerns relating to county development plans and what has been happening over the past year. The representative bodies for local authorities have sought this. I am very happy that the Minister is giving the power to local authorities to make the decisions because councils and councillors are the most appropriate people to make decisions like these. I know the Minister is deeply committed to local government and I hope it will be a hallmark of his time in the Department that we will increasingly devolve powers in these areas to local authorities.

Senator Warfield said this is pro-developer legislation. That kind of language is an indicator of the problem with what Sinn Féin is talking about. This is not about pro-developer legislation. This is about getting homes built. It will allow people who have had difficulty during the Covid period, who are looking to build either their own homes or estates of houses, the time to get them built. I do not know what Sinn Féin's problem is with builders and people in the private sector. If we do not engage with the private sector we are never going to get the housing we need built.

I agree with some of Senator Cummins's concerns about people being able to obtain financing. One of the issues that will arise, of which the Minister will be aware, is the rising cost of construction and how that may impact on business plans for the construction of individual houses and estates. That will obviously have implications for plans that were made pre Covid, so I ask that there be some understanding in that regard. It is also important that there is understanding on the part of State agencies. I refer, in particular, to Irish Water. There have been huge difficulties for individuals and developers in getting water connections. I hope the message will go from the Department to help get the construction industry back up and running rather than delay it. We have also learned from this experience and I hope that will inform how we look at our planning process, a very important process, into the future. I strongly support the Bill.