Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)

Today I want to raise the issue of how our planning process works, or does not work in many cases, if we are being honest. All Members will be aware of projects being bogged down in endless delays and appeals tied up in court for years on end. The system should be for those who have an actual interest in the planning applications in question, not those seeking to push some sort of agenda. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has said as much recently, and his office is currently drawing up legislation to achieve this. This is especially important now with today's launch of the new housing plan. It is a plan that sets out ambitious targets and if these are going to be reached, we must have a planning process that is suitable. Vital housing and critical infrastructure projects cannot continue to be delayed by those using the planning process to push an agenda. If a project directly impacts you and there is an issue you want to raise, you must of course have the right to do so but there are needs to be balanced in the system. Projects which are going to serve communities should not be delayed due to some minor technical issue being raised by someone with an issue. The UK has tackled this issue by making large-scale projects into a category of nationally significant infrastructure projects with a specific planning process. After many years they have reformed this further recently to try to speed up the process more. We should look at what learnings we can take from there and, indeed, other countries on this issue. Regardless, it is an issue we must address in the short term if the Government is going to meet the targets that we need. I would be grateful if the Leader of the House would invite the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan to the House to discuss the topic.