John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is an extremely positive message and I appreciate that the Minister of State has taken it to the House today. It is clear that the Minister is strongly considering extending the waiver. He is reviewing the waiver and has noticed and acknowledged that it has worked really well, reduced costs for people and means that people have decided not to sit on planning permissions for a year or two waiting for costs to come down. That is borne out in the data showing the number of commencements in the past 12 months. This is an excellent scheme which clearly helps with supply. Where I come from in County Louth, one of the biggest issues I deal with is planning and helping people who are my own age get planning permission. One of the reasons people did not initiate on the back of planning permission was that the development levies were prohibitive. We have now reduced those and people in my county are now building. We need to extend the waiver so more people can build in rural Ireland and to make sure it thrives.