I have a specific housing issue to raise with the Taoiseach. The High Court yesterday quashed a decision of An Bord Pleanála yet again. The board had granted permission for 123 apartments at a site on the Old Fort Road in Ballincollig. That is a place I know well and I am sure the Taoiseach also knows it well. This is not an isolated judgment. Month after month, the courts are striking down decisions of An Bord Pleanála, particularly planning decisions taken under strategic housing provisions of the 2016 Act brought in by the Taoiseach's constituency colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney. Last December, the High Court quashed a permission that An Bord Pleanála had granted for more than 660 homes in Rathmullan in Donegal. In other cases, An Bord Pleanála is simply holding up its hands. In March of this year, it consented to a High Court order quashing its permission for 614 residential units on RTÉ lands at Donnybrook. In July 2019, permission for 221 housing units at Cross Avenue in Blackrock, County Dublin, was dismissed because An Bord Pleanála had not gone through enough public participation, a basic requirement of planning law.

To be clear, the Labour Party is very supportive of An Bord Pleanála, its structure and use, and the need for it. I do not think any party in this State has a stronger history than the Labour Party when it comes to having independent planning regulatory processes in place. We have paid the price and taken lawsuits for that down the years.

There is an issue here, however. In its annual report for 2019, An Bord Pleanála refers to 17 judgments in the courts. The board was only successful in having its decisions upheld in nine cases. Its decisions were overturned in eight cases, and in seven other cases, it accepted there was a legal deficit in its decision process. That means 15 out of 24 cases were, therefore, lost. How many units are lost because of that? Given the crisis we are in, it is not good enough.

In 2015, I established a review group, chaired by Mr. Gregory Jones QC, to undertake an independent organisational review of An Bord Pleanála, which produced an excellent report comprising 101 recommendations over 257 pages.

Does the Taoiseach accept that the frequency and regularity of successful court challenges to strategic housing developments demonstrate a fundamental problem with either the proper functioning of An Bord Pleanála or a serious deficit in the 2016 legislation or both and-or a lack of resources in the board, which the board stated is the case in its recent national development plan, NDP, submission? Will the Taoiseach ensure that the implementation of all the recommendations of the An Bord Pleanála review group is prioritised, given that it is now five years since the report, which I dare say he supported, came in?

The Deputy has raised a very important issue. I take on board the points he has made. It is a cause for concern that quite a high number of those judgments were overturned or that seven were voluntarily owned up to and deficits were acknowledged in terms of the decisions. In the first instance, this means An Bord Pleanála must reflect on its process and due diligence regarding decisions that are taken, which subsequently do not stand up in the courts process.

It also speaks to a wider issue in respect of the planning process more generally and whether we need to reform that process. The idea of a planning court has been mooted with a view to making sure we can get decisions that give greater certainty to all concerned, both those who appeal and those who are appealed against. That could mean a more streamlined, efficient and effective planning system. These are projects that are being held back and houses or apartment blocks that could be built. That is not optimal or acceptable either. Many investment decisions have been held back for far too long now in the system. Our system is not optimal in terms of the future of our economy and in facilitating good investment. In some instances, it takes far too long and then, as the Deputy noted, deficiencies arise at the eleventh hour, which perhaps should have been spotted much earlier and should never have got to the stage of a High Court or Supreme Court case before they were highlighted.

I have discussed this with the Attorney General and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and we are examining proposals. I will certainly revert to that review commissioned by the Deputy five years ago. I have no intention of hanging around on this, however. The Government must move on this within a reasonable timeframe to improve our system through a combination of legislative amendments and additional resources.

There is a fundamental issue here. The 2019 report by An Bord Pleanála outlined that eight cases were lost and that in seven cases, it owned up. The figures stand for themselves. We have a fundamental issue here and three things are happening. An Bord Pleanála does not have enough resources, which I believe to be true. That is what the report stated and what the board has been saying in recent weeks with regard to the NDP.

Second, the legislation from 2016, which was brought in by the then Minister with responsibility for housing, Deputy Coveney, actually has issues with it. Third, there is an issue in respect of the process by which it makes these decisions. As the Taoiseach said, deficiencies are highlighted at the final hour and then applications are dismissed. These three problems need to be dealt with.

Finally, the Taoiseach often asks for constructive suggestions from the Opposition.

We have legal advice that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage can direct local authorities to ensure that, with any granted permission, a large percentage of the housing must be given to owner-occupiers. Will the Taoiseach either instruct or ask his Minister to consider that because it is a valid suggestion?

I do not have to direct my Minister in that regard because he is actively considering it. That is one of the range of ideas he is considering in the context of dealing with the investment funds issue, particularly in how it impacts on first-time buyers and suburban estates.

I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis in respect of the deficiencies within the strategic development zone, SDZ, legislative framework or An Bord Pleanála's set of processes, along with the issue of resources. Suffice to say, we intend to tackle those issues. The SDZ legislation is due to expire-----

There are going to be a lot more applications before it does.

There have been many applications that have never been followed through on as well. That is another issue. I refer to the enormous volume of applications have not been followed through in terms of actual construction or development of sites. That is something that needs focus as well.