I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to have this opportunity to present the Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022 to the House. Many examples of building failure as a result of non-compliance with building regulations have come to light in recent years and more may continue to emerge in the coming months and years. The Government's plan for housing, Housing for All, sets out an ambitious target of 300,000 new homes by the end of the decade to address our national housing cr…

The Deputy should not feel he has to do so.

I thank the Deputies who put their names to the Bill. I particularly thank the Simon Communities of Ireland, who have put a huge amount of work into putting the legislation together. Earlier today, I spoke with Wayne Stanley and I commended him on the work he has done on the legislation and the tireless work the Simon Communities of Ireland do day in day out. In response to Deputy Gould, we will always need volunteers. Any government will need volunteers and people who care and who advocate and work for people in t…

I thank Deputies Boyd Barrett, Gino Kenny, Paul Murphy and Bríd Smith for tabling these amendments. We discussed this at some length on Committee Stage and we had a good engagement where I was able to explain the rationale behind this. I agree with Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. I know he is not a member of the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage so he did not take part in that discussion but what we are doing with this Bill is bringing planning back to local authorities. Instead of An Bord Pleanála maki…

We cannot do everything at once. We are bringing that back to our councils, where it should be. In a compliment to Deputy Boyd Barrett, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said no one would know the housing needs in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown better than him. I put it to him that maybe the only people who would are the planners in that area and that is the purpose of this. We cannot be, nor should we be, over prescriptive in allowing certain discretions to happen at local authority level. There has been good engagement on this an…

I do not mind. I have no objection but is that permitted under Standing Orders?

I will be guided by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on this but I have no objection.

We do not always have to divide. Sometimes there is unanimity.

I thank Deputy Pringle and all the other Deputies who have contributed. I will deal with a couple of matters relating to the process. To follow on from Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's point, no one would state, and I certainly have not, that this Bill is the silver bullet to solve our issues in the planning process. It is not. Likewise, I agree with Deputy Ó Broin that the return to the two-stage planning process will not mean the end of judicial reviews of residential developments. Colleagues in government will know, as…

Great. If Deputy Ó Broin has applied for a 25-storey apartment block and the local authority has said it is highly inappropriate and should not happen, people will be able to see that and point to that in their observations. If that goes to An Bord Pleanála, there are other issues there which we will deal with. That is all part of the process. That is transparency. The passing of this legislation will mean that this has to happen as part of the process. I discussed this at committee with Deputy McAuliffe. I am afra…

There were many comments on this.

Is Deputy Pringle coming in?

If Deputy Pringle comes in, I will come back in after him.

I am talking about communities.

Which amendment is the Deputy's?

We have to, and do, understand the distinction between pre-planning and planning. We also discussed this in committee. A lot of pre-planning does not go to planning. Deputies have referenced that when looking at large planning files and trying to track changes throughout, it can be complex. We have to figure out the best way to do this. There is something in the PPN piece. I could not accept Deputy Pringle's amendment because it is not defined. Phrases such as "Community Organisation" and "in the locality" are far …

We have discussed at length this proposal to delete section 28(1C) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. I listened to the Deputy and others speak about it on Committee Stage and set out their reasons for supporting it. It would have a wide-ranging effect insofar as it would remove the legislative provision introduced to empower a Minister to ensure we have a nationally consistent approach to planning in all 31 local authorities. The amendment would simply remove that. I think what the Deputy is try…

I understand it. The Deputy need not worry about that.

That is outrageous.

Hear, hear.