Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am hugely disappointed with it. Most of the reference here seems to apply to developers. I am not talking about developers, but about young people who are trying to build a one-off house, many of whom reside in the Minister of State's constituency as well. A pandemic the like of which we have never seen, inflationary issues we have not seen in decades and difficulty getting materials, builders and tradespeople have meant they have been unable to commence building their homes, through no fault of their own. They have spent thousands trying to get a planning application together, have got planning permission and, now, with the stroke of a pen and no lead-in time in relation to planning applications granted in the past five years, they find themselves in a bind and cannot move forward. Now we are inflicting further financial hardship on them by saying they will have to pay for planning permission again and go through the entire process again. It is hugely unfair. This response makes no reference to the young couple trying to build a one-off house.

Will the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, have a second look at this? We are not talking about developers. I appreciate we need houses. We all know that, but I am trying to help out young people trying to get their foot on the ladder. This is a kick in the teeth to them.