Pádraig O'Sullivan

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I only have two and a half minutes so I will make two or three points, beginning with the planning system. As the Minister knows, most local authorities are reviewing their development plans, which I welcome. It is long overdue. There is one issue I want to raise with the Minister and it is something I only became aware of in the past couple of days. It is a document on housing densities entitled Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities. My understanding is that at least two local authorities, and thankfully they do not include the local authorities in Cork city or county, are referencing this document in relation to the request of them to increase zoned land, particularly on serviceable sites. The document gives a provision for increased densities and these two local authorities are saying the request of them to zone additional land has been satisfied because densities were increased in this document. Some local authorities are saying their job is already done. This is unacceptable in the situation we are in. I would really like the Minister to examine this and ensure it is not allowed to happen. It is a bit of a pass by those two local authorities. I am losing count of how many times I have raised Irish Water in the Chamber over the past six years. I welcome the change that is due to be made, whereby we will have more developer-led infrastructure. Unfortunately it is the only resolution I can see for the current impasse on the lack of wastewater infrastructure, in particular, that is servicing most of these sites. I have often referenced the case of Carrignavar. It is a village ten minutes from Cork city centre. It is due to be connected through BusConnects. It has everything going for it. It has a new school and a new special school. A new community centre is on the go as well. This village has everything going for it but it has been hampered for the past 15 years with no growth and housing land dezoned. We are being told the treatment plant will not be built for at least seven years. Unless we crack this wastewater and Irish Water issue I have a feeling that many of the Minister's efforts will be futile. A couple of weeks ago I asked a parliamentary question about the number of one-bed and four-bed properties that had been delivered by local authorities throughout the country. It is quite clear, particularly in the case of Cork city, that they are not delivering one-bed and four-bed properties in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, larger families and single applicants are lingering on the list for the longest time. We need to do more to address this and perhaps consider levying quotas on local authorities to facilitate this.

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