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Dáil
‹ Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation

Planning objection legislation

Summary

Deputy Carroll MacNeill asked about the status of planning objection legislation amid housing supply concerns and demand for one-bedroom apartments. The Tánaiste said housing output is improving, one-bed homes are in greatest shortage, and more of all types must be built.

The Government has published the Housing for All update on the Government website. I met yesterday with two groups calling for one-bedroom apartments. Young professionals are trying to move out of home. The Dublin Simon Community is desperately seeking one-bedroom accommodation for rental. I want to ask the Tánaiste about the status of the planning objection legislation under the planning advisory forum chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. Concerns about supply have been raised by Deputies in my constituency. Not 500 metres up the road, there are proposals for 147 units, including 51 one-bedroom apartments, 67 two-bedroom apartments and nine studios, and objections are going in left, right and centre.

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Leo Varadkar The Tánaiste Fine Gael

I thank the Deputy. I note the Central Statistics Office housing figures came out earlier today. They showed that 20,000 new homes were built in Ireland last year. That was not as many as we needed but it was a reasonable performance, given that construction was shut down for a long period last year. We expect that figure will go well above 20,000 this year.

We know that we need more homes of all types in Ireland. We need large family homes, three-bed, two-bed and one-bed homes. The greatest shortage and need is for one-bed homes. That is why we need to make sure we build a decent proportion of them.

Unfortunately, there are huge numbers of objections to planning applications for new housing in this city and country, for almost any reason. There are also a considerable number of judicial reviews. The Attorney General and the relevant Minister are working on reforms to our planning legislation to ensure it is not so easy for people to hold up necessary housing developments for so long.

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