Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The final draft of the revised national planning framework was approved by Cabinet yesterday. Since that was announced yesterday, a plethora of statements and circulars have been issued on behalf of the Government through the Minister's office. I wish to acknowledge the importance of the work by me and Senator Higgins because we pursued the Government when these matters were being discussed in the Senate and called for these matters to be brought before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The cover of the final draft of the revised national planning framework mentions that it incorporates amendments arising from the public consultations and from the environmental assessment. Of course, they will be subject to the approval of each House of the Oireachtas. That was a good bit of parliamentary work.

The Government is all over the place on land zoning, rezoning and the residential zoned land tax. Why do I say that? A number of local authorities have been approached by the Planning Regulator effectively telling them to dezone. Today, I met a Fianna Fáil man who told me that in Newtownmountkennedy, there were issues about the zoning of land and it came down to one vote. There is a suggestion in some quarters that somehow councillors are in the back pocket of some developers if they rezone land.That is not true. That is not correct and must be refuted at all times. We have the Government encouraging local authorities to build up land banks and rightly so. The Senator will be familiar with this in Galway county. Local authorities have an economic brief and enterprise brief. They also have to make provision for the future of housing need within their jurisdiction and that requires the purchase of lands. South Dublin County Council is making a case that they should be exempt from the residential zoned land tax. In this House last year I said that the residential zoned land tax would become a burden on local authorities and their own lands. Now we have a situation where local authorities throughout this country are going to have to pay residential zoned land tax because they zoned land and brought it in some of the way in terms of infrastructure ready to go for housing. It is crazy and it does not make sense. I reiterate that all local authorities subject to these conditions should be exempt from the residential zoned land tax, as should farmers who are actively farming for agricultural enterprise.

I call yet again for a debate on to the quantum of housing. I told this House last week about the 4Dublin housing supply pipeline report that is given to the Minister. There were 49,000 permissions for residential units and none of them have commenced. In some cases, sites have changed hands one, two and three times.

I wish to have a debate on the action plan from An Bord Pleanála. I raise the issue of the Planning and Development Bill, which was guillotined in both Houses because we were told that it had to happen, and it was urgent. Virtually none of it has commenced. The Act has not even been translated into Irish. What is going on with the Housing Commission report? This report was commissioned by the Government. Its members were appointed by the Government. It made fabulous recommendations. Where has it all gone? We need a serious debate on housing at all levels and a debate on zoning.