Fianna Fáil TDs want councils to override public consultation to speed up building

One TD told the meeting: 'It feels like we’re not getting the results for the time and effort we’re putting in', with delivery of homes stuck at about 30,000 per year. Picture: iStock 

Fianna Fáil TDs are pressing for local councils to override public consultation on county development plans amid concerns about delays to the zoning of land for housing.

A special meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party earlier this month, which was focused on housing, heard calls for red tape and bureaucracy to be removed across the board.

TDs held the meeting alongside new housing minister James Browne, with deputies providing suggestions to the Wexford TD to accelerate the delivery of housing across the country.

Sources who attended the meeting said there was a widespread discussion on housing, lasting for more than two and a half hours.

Changing local development plans

Concerns were raised by some TDs in attendance about the potential long lead-in time for changing local county development plans when the National Planning Framework is introduced.

Making changes to a local development plan requires it to be put out to public consultation, with concerns expressed that this slows down the process.

The meeting heard calls for emergency-style powers to override consultation, and allow local councils to make changes to development plans without public views being sought. One TD said: 

We’re so sick of being caught up in bureaucracy. We spend our whole lives in consultation. Prolonged and constant consultation is to the detriment of building homes. 

The meeting was told that calls to override consultation were not aimed at “railroading” changes to local development plans, but were instead about speeding things up.

Effort is 'not getting the results' 

“It feels like we’re not getting the results for the time and effort we’re putting in,” one source said of housing, citing the large amounts spent by the Government on new initiatives but delivery of homes remains at around 30,000 houses per year.

Another source said there was “frustration” that delivery isn’t happening quickly.

“We have 12 months to get on top of this if we want to see this [housing crisis] resolved within the lifetime of the Government,” one TD said. 

Draft revisions to the National Planning Framework were published last year, setting out a target of 303,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030.

TDs were also said to have pressed for changes to the affordable housing system, with Cork South-Central TD Seamus McGrath advocating for a list style, similar to how social housing allocations work.

Role of Uisce Éireann

Uisce Éireann was also raised repeatedly at the meeting, with Cork North-West TD Aindrias Moynihan calling for changes to allow housing developers deliver wastewater solutions.

Sources said that Mr Moynihan told the meeting that changes needed to be made to ensure that Uisce Éireann isn’t blocking housing developments by not being in a position to install water services.

One TD said that it was one way “to get around a very clear blockage” to housing delivery.

The Government has spoken in recent months about the need to deliver wastewater schemes across the country to allow more small and medium-sized housing developments be built across the country.

Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris previously spoke of bottlenecks due to a lack of wastewater treatment infrastructure, which has then prevented development of new houses.

Multiple sources at the meeting said that Mr Browne appeared open to suggestions from TDs and Senators.

It was also agreed that Fianna Fáil would more regularly hold parliamentary party meetings with a housing focus.