Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-14 ============================================================ Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel I wish to speak on the section. I am using this as an opportunity, as I did with the earlier section. This the first mention of An Coimisiún Pleanála and I want to use this as an opportunity to highlight a number of issues relating to An Coimisiún Pleanála. It has come along a pretty rocky road. The Minister of State and I know, as do a number of Senators who served, particularly Senator Flaherty, on the housing committee, about the long and protracted discussions we had about An Coimisiún Pleanála. There were a lot of shortcomings but, in fairness, the commission has responded well. It appears to be up and running. There are issues around timelines. Again, I am not expecting the Minister to respond tonight. I am just using this as an opportunity on the floor of the House to echo some of my concerns. Perhaps the Minister of State could bring it back to the Department. I welcome any timeframe where we put down statutory timelines for delivery because at the last outing on this Bill, I cited how developers were very successful in building new homes. These are very desirable, proper and sustainable homes that people were buying in advance of them even going on the market and expressing an indication of their desire to buy them. The problem is that I am meeting entrepreneurs and people who want to put the money where their mouth is and develop really classy, good and sustainable homes. For some reason, however, through the planning process, they seem to be locked out of further engagement and many of them are waiting months to get a response from An Coimisiún Pleanála - just a status update about where they are with their application to build 135 homes in south County Dublin. This is the problem. An Coimisiún Pleanála has to be fit, slick, efficient and fit for purpose. If the Government is serious about tackling sustainability, houses, proper planning and sustainable development, the commission has to be responsive and capable of responding to valid applications that have come through a process and are sitting in it. We cannot have a situation where the commission cannot do its work so if it is short of resources or staff, it needs to be equipped with them. That is the story coming in. People who object, raise concerns or submit observations, not necessary objections, are interested and are engaging. From talking to politicians in Leinster House last year, I have been quite amazed by those who talk about people frustrating the process. People do not set out to frustrate the planning process. Indeed many politicians in this House are on record as having made submissions and objections to developments in their own backyard. They cannot have it both ways. A politician cannot have a view because he or she is meant to be representing people and a different view when coming in here as a Minister - I am not talking about the Minister of State - suggesting all these objections are holding up the process. There are many strands to proper planning and sustainable development of our communities. What I am really saying is that when the Minister of State gets this legislation through the House, there can be no more excuses about planning. The 2024 Act was to be the panacea for all our problems. We were going to have homes everywhere. They would be falling out all over the place. We were going to have wonderful playgrounds, community facilities, sports clubs, leisure clubs and swimming pools. You name it - we were going to have it. This is now 2026 and in a year's time, I hope I will be saying "Well done, great" but it is about the lead-in to proper development. It is not about building bricks alone; it is about building sustainable communities. What I am really saying is that we must resource An Coimisiún Pleanála with the expertise, experience and staff. We do not want to hear anything about embargoes and how it is not able to manage its affairs. That goes for planning authorities as well. I again salute the work of planners in our 31 planning authorities, who are under immense stress. The Minister of State knows it in Limerick city and county. I know some of the people down there. There are real difficulties as so much is coming at them. I welcome the idea of tight timelines. They are really important. No more excuses. Allow the democratic process. Allow public engagement, which is so healthy in a democracy, to shape the outcomes, or contribute to shaping them. It is about not having predetermined outcomes for everything but shaping those outcomes for the better of us all. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:15+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-14