Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking time out of his schedule to be here. Recently published reports I have seen indicate we need approximately 50,000 homes to be built every year for the next 30 years. That information was published before we welcomed thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country to our shores. Trying to find homes for our young people is clearly the number one social crisis we face. Thankfully, we are beginning to make progress on this issue, despite the obstacles posed by Covid-19 and many other factors. I compliment the Minister of State and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on the work they are doing in this regard.

Housing starts for the last year exceeded the target of 35,000. It is welcome and commendable that we have reached that level. We have much more work to do, however, and it is important in this context that we remove any obstacles that could hinder young people in their efforts to try to find homes. I have been contacted by several young people who obtained planning permission to build homes in the last five years. They have been unable to commence building those homes because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the inflation levels we have, and have had for decades, the shortage of building materials and difficulties getting builders and other tradespeople. Those young people are finding that their planning permissions are about to expire. Such planning permission, as the Minister of State is aware, normally has a fixed duration of five years. It is possible to get an extension under section 42 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, where substantial work has been completed on a home. An extension of approximately two years can be obtained in those circumstances to allow the building to be finished.

The young people I am dealing with have been unable to start the works for which they have planning permission. They were able to get the required planning permission, but they have not been able to start the building work. I firmly believe that in cases where young people have got planning permission, but where its validity is now nearing an end because it has not been possible to commence building works due to a combination of factors, including the impact of Covid-19 and challenges regarding costs and finding materials and builders and other tradespeople, there should be some flexibility in the system to allow for the extension of that planning permission for approximately two years. That would allow people in such circumstances to build the homes they need so badly.

Such facilitation operated until recently, perhaps until last September or October, when local authorities were informed that it would no longer apply. I can understand that change in the context of large projects where developers, for whatever reason, might not be able to follow through. A push is under way to try to get as much building done as possible. However, in situations where young people who spent thousands of euro getting planning permission were unable, through no fault of their own, to commence their homes, an extension should be granted to allow them to start to building them. We all know we need many more homes for our young people to enable us to start making inroads in addressing this crisis. I hope the Minister of State will have some positive news for me. No pressure, of course.