Micheál Martin says house building in Ireland is hampered by 'gold-plating' of EU rules
Taoiseach Micheál Martin: 'We have got to look at how we transpose EU directives and whether we’re doing them effectively, efficiently, or maybe not to gold-plate them in the future.' Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
Infrastructural development for major housing projects is being hampered by too many EU rules and regulations, the Taoiseach has said.
Micheál Martin said the Government is exploring ways to roll back some so-called “gold-plated” EU regulations that place strict obligations on developers in relation to environmental concerns and other matters.
His remarks come as public expenditure minister Jack Chambers will tell a Cabinet infrastructure committee today that the accelerating infrastructure taskforce has heard examples of “gold-plating” of EU rules that, when enshrined into Irish laws, are “going beyond what is required”.
The taskforce is looking at alternative methods of transposing EU legislation, with changes potentially “knocking years off a project’s life cycle”.
Under gold-plating, Ireland has often adopted additional restrictions beyond what was agreed at an EU level to ensure a “best in class” approach.
Mr Martin, however, now says there is a need to cut “red tape” to speed up the delivery of housing projects.
“Every modern leader is saying we have stitched ourselves up over the years,” he said. "An accumulation of regulatory frameworks that are just too straitjacketing of development. There has to be a better way."
The Taoiseach acknowledged a growing frustration about planning applications being delayed for years, often held up in courts when judicial reviews are taken by private groups or individuals.
He said: “There are important standards that we have to adhere to, but everything is being JR’ed [judicial reviewed].
Government sources cited regulations governing environmental impact assessments as being significantly gold-plated beyond what the EU requires.
For example, Ireland requires an environmental impact assessment for a water treatment plant for a population of 10,000 or more. EU regulations call for an assessment when the plant is serving 150,000 people or more.
The constraining nature of EU environmental regulations has previously been raised by the chief executive of the Land Development Agency, John Coleman, who said that the State has hamstrung itself through gold-plating.
“We take the EU directive, and we say ‘we’re the best in class, we’re going to do twice that’. That’s hamstringing us,” he said.
One Government source warned about the impact of EU environmental regulations on housing development timelines.
“We are finding that there are so many environmental regulations from the EU side having a major impact on timelines for delivery of big projects,” the source said, particularly highlighting the impact on housing.
Mr Martin said judicial reviews are being taken too often and sometimes against the “greater good”.
“They’re weaponising the directives in a way that perhaps was never intended,” Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach has asked the European Commission to prepare a simplification package on regulations surrounding housing and infrastructure.
“Did we gold-plate them? That needs to be teased out, and in what way can we simplify regulations?” said Mr Martin. “Too much of our planning is in the courts.”
While Mr Martin has pointed to these regulations as a barrier to building, the Government has still not published its own housing plan.
Mr Martin defended the delay to the plan, saying it was to allow changes to housing policy within the budget and to ensure the revised National Development Plan was in place.
Meanwhile, the Government is expected to fail to meet a housing development target of 41,000 new homes for 2025.
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) estimated the State would fall short, with completions rising to 35,000 by the end of 2025.
Between 2025 and 2030, there is a commitment to deliver 303,000 new houses, an average of 50,500 per year.
Mr Martin said he does not believe house prices will moderate until the country is delivering between 45,000 and 50,000 houses per year consistently.
“It can’t just be [50,000] one year and back down again the next year. We have to be at 50,000, 50,0000, 50,000,” Mr Martin said.
However, he declined to put a timeframe on when this would happen.
“I don’t want to be too optimistic or depress people out of it,” Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach said the housing plan, now due to be published this month, would have a “big emphasis” on expanding modern methods of construction.
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