Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Wall. The Minister is not accepting these amendments, but I appeal to him in this regard. He said this SHD process was going to end in February, but it is not ending then and will continue into April for the first category of applicants and into June for the second category of applicants. Neither I nor my party see any justification for giving a period of 16 weeks to those people who have got their pre-planning approval. We propose to give them eight weeks instead.

Regarding the second category, concerning those people putting their applications in now, we believe they should be rolled into the proposed new LRD process and not given access to the SHD process next year. We must end this thing. The Minister made a point regarding how we had opposed transitional arrangements in this context, but this is essentially an invitation for people to get their applications in. The Minister has a terrible habit of saying he is going to do something, and then we get the longest goodbye possible, accompanied with an invitation for people to get their applications in. We saw that happen with co-living and we see it here again. Therefore, I am pressing my amendments and I will bring them to full votes, but I appeal to the Minister to accept them.