I wish to share time with Deputy Brady. Yesterday evening I referred to the difficulties within the planning system and concluded by referring to the fact that the level of confidence in the planning system will have to be restored. I made the point about the need for the public to contact local politicians or Members of the House to further their representations. I welcome the fact that the Bill will deal with at least some of these issues. The current difficulty is that applicants have to contact politicians to arrange a pre-planning meeting with planners, seek to have a decision speeded up, often to have the conditions attached explained, and in some cases to have a refusal reversed. Unfortunately, in the public mind, public representatives have a role to play in this regard.
Public dissatisfaction is not just reserved for planners and officials, but also for An Bord Pleanála. I am aware of an application for two houses in my constituency of Laoighis-Offaly where an objection was raised by a third party. The council examined the objection but granted the application. The third party appealed to An Bord Pleanála, and the board refused the application, but cited different reasons from those raised by the objector. I recognise that An Bord Pleanála is within its rights in doing so, but decisions of this nature require greater explanation – a one sheet answer is just not enough.
Many of the problems at local authority and An Bord Pleanála level have been caused by the huge increase in the number of planning applications. Reform of the planning laws will count for very little unless there is a corresponding approach to staff recruitment levels given the number of staff required to deal with the huge rise in planning applications. It is also very important that the Bill sets out details of how an acceptable time frame can be administered in terms of dealing with planning applications.
I am glad the Minister has taken time to address the issue of staff levels in various planning departments. I am glad he acknowledged in the House last week the new functions being given to local authorities and An Bord Pleanála, and that the additional demands of the Bill in regard to some existing functions will require the allocation of greater resources and the ongoing development of planning skills. In that regard I welcome the Minister's contact with the planning school in UCD about the increased need for professional planning staff. I, and I am sure every Member who is a member of a local authority, have seen at first hand the huge increase in planning applications with no change in staff levels. I have been a member of Laoighis County Council for the past 20 years and have seen at first hand the pressures placed on planning staff. For example, there were 1,515 planning applications in 1999, 815 in 1998 and 790 in 1997 dealt with by the same staff complement. If we are to deliver the cornerstone of the Bill on time we need to be strategic in approach and be imbued within an ethos of sustainable development. To deliver performance of the highest quality there must be a serious commitment to encourage school leavers to take up a career in planning. It is important the necessary funding is provided to deliver professional planners to our local authorities. Nothing else will make the provisions of the Bill work and it will go a long way to restoring public confidence in the planning system by reducing delays caused by requests for further information.
I am delighted the Minister has addressed many of the issues causing public annoyance and disquiet. Primarily, the Bill's purpose is to ensure quality development plans, quality and timely decisions and an acceptable planning service. It is important that there will be proper enforcement of our planning laws. The public demands these aspirations and the Bill will ensure that change will be put into effect to make them a reality.
Statutory recognition will be given to pre-planning discussions which will help the decision making process. More importantly, it will help the applicant clarify his application and will lead to less time for decisions to be made as there should no longer be a need for further information requests because the applicant can sit down with the planners in the pre-planning stage and ensure any difficulties can be ironed out. This will ensure an immediate response from the planners. I welcome that the Bill addressed the need to reform the enforcement code and that the code will deal with genuine concerns of people living in unfinished housing estates. This has been a huge bone of contention for members of local authorities for years. The retention permission will only be available to deal with genuine mistakes such as a window or a door placed in the wrong location.
For too many years we, as public representatives, have tried to explain to the public the need on the one hand for retention applications and, on the other, to convince them that while the large developer is conscious of the provision of the retention escape hatch, he has often used this for the wrong reasons. I am glad the Minister is addressing this issue. Retention applications and subsequent refusals for omitting to comply with a relevant planning condition have only helped to give the planning process a bad name. There has been much criticism of public representatives' support for retention applications. Part V of the Bill which deals with housing supply has been an area of greatest contention, debate and disagreement since the Minister first mentioned the proposal. This section will ensure that housing supply will become compatible with the planning system. While the Minister has often talked about the need to transfer power to the local authorities, this is the first major step in ensuring that policy because the planning development aspect of our development plan will be tied into planning; we will have a direct input into the development plan. The obvious follow on from that will be our direct input into housing supply and the arrangement throughout counties for such locations.
Members of local authorities will have a direct involvement in the provision of such housing because the council's development plans must contain a housing strategy, not just enough to suggest, as in the past, that there is a need in each town for a level of housing but also to ensure we prepare a development plan for a five year period. A strategic housing plan should be built into that for each town and village in an effort to tackle correctly the huge increase in waiting lists and meet the needs of the present and future population of the area. We can play a direct role by ensuring adequate land is made available for this purpose. The council's development plan must assess the needs for social and affordable housing and the mix of house types required to meet the needs of the different households must also be copperfastened into the development plan, in other words, as we prepare our plan we must ensure adequate housing supply to meet the needs of our young population. We cannot rely any longer on the yearly capital allocation of local authorities. The demands for local authority housing each year far exceeds the supply. For example, in my county of Laois this year the housing list stands at 690 and the average house approval allocation for capital schemes is approximately 60.
To ensure an adequate housing supply other measures must be taken, such as the voluntary housing schemes response and the Government's proposals for social and affordable housing. The development plan must include objectives to deal with provisions for suitable housing. Specific assessments must be made by the planning authorities. It is important that specific needs be contained within the period of the plan as it will become far more serious and will have a greater impact on members of local authorities due to the fact that responsibility has been placed upon us, as local public representatives, to ensure we pinpoint the area of need throughout the county, match it with a strategic strategy and reduce our waiting lists.
Based on the assessment, a percentage of land should be made available for social and affordable housing. The figure of 20% is fixed in here but the Minister has gone to pains to explain that 20% will not always be required in each area. As affordable housing may only be sold to eligible persons, it is important to underpin the need and strategy involved to ensure there is an income limit for people requiring houses in the main – people whose income will not obtain a sufficient mortgage to purchase or build. In the allocation, the local authority will determine the order of priority of eligible persons and will always be open and transparent in its decisions.
I welcome the Bill and am delighted to see the Minister's commitment becoming a reality. I will share the rest of my time with my colleague, Deputy Brady.