Sinn Féin is not turning up to work in order to ‘frustrate’ planning reform, Darragh O’Brien has claimed. 

The Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently considering amendments to the Planning and Development Bill 2023.

The Department of Housing has spent two years drafting the bill and TDs and Senators have spent some 60 hours scrutinising it over the past fortnight.

Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Minister O’Brien accused Sinn Féin of “wasting time”.

“What I’ve seen from particularly the main opposition party - and this is just a fact, it’s not a political charge - they’ve purposely stood down one of their members,” he said.

“They formally wrote to the Committee withdrawing one of their members - which is unprecedented.

“I’ve been in the Dáil since 2007, I’ve never seen it happen.

“The purpose of that is to slow it down, so the bill doesn’t pass by the summer.”

Leinster House.

The bill is the third largest in the history of the State and Minister O’Brien hopes it will speed up planning permission applicants, allowing  housing and infrastructure to be built at a quicker rate.

“You can’t have situations whereby really important developments for our State are delayed three, four, five, six years,” he said.

“It’s not tenable and that’s why this legislation needs to pass.

“That’s why I did call out the opposition for not turning up to work and trying to frustrate the work that we’re doing.”

Quicker decisions

One reform Minister O’Brien expects will make the final version of the bill is restrictions on who can object to proposed developments near them.

“You will have to show, in some way, shape or form that a development affects you or your community or there’s a good environmental reason for it,” he said.

“We should not have vexatious objections being made from Ahascragh to a waste treatment plant in Arklow.

“That should not be the case.”

Sinn Féin has been contacted for comment.

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Main image: Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien.