IRELAND’S planning process is badly in need of reform and must change ‘radically’, a Fianna Fáil MEP said.
Billy Kelleher said he met with builders and developers in recent weeks who said most new housing developments take longer to go through the planning process than to be actually physically built.
‘I do not believe the current system will ever be capable of reaching the 60,000 plus homes that we need to stabilise our housing system and address the housing crisis,’ said Mr Kelleher.
‘I have repeatedly called for Ireland’s lethargic planning and permitting system to be overhauled.
‘It is holding us back as a society. Now is the time to do it … Over the last five years, I’ve seen how other member states apply European regulations, and they are not as onerous as they are in Ireland. We have a generational chance, with a new government, to change how we build in Ireland.’
