Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will say a last sentence on this. I totally want to see planning brought back to local authorities. We are lauding this as a move on from the SHDs but we raised concerns about the fast-tracking of SHDs. I was in the Seanad when we highlighted concerns we had about how it might be abused and fail to deliver. Many of those concerns proved to be correct. When we are flagging concerns or questions, it is important that we be clear on them.

We talk about commercial and, if it is about having shops, of course we want shops near houses. The case is different if it is about having empty office space. We know about commercial and speculative real estate. Many of the clauses that were supposedly going to drive industry, business, employment and inner city living have translated into empty office and commercial buildings because their purpose is not week to week or day to day, but speculative. They are commodities for trading.

I am not against commercial activity but there is nuance and difference in this. I laud the restoration of some role for the local authorities. I will withdraw the amendment for now but I will come back to it on Report Stage. There needs to be real consideration and monitoring. I am putting down a flag on that 30% piece, because that is not a loophole and should not be allowed to be exploited to create a commodity add-on to residential development. That, unfortunately, happened systematically with many incentive schemes created in the past.