MEP for Offaly demands 'emergency legislation to break planning gridlock'

THE midlands MEP who sits on the European parliament's top housing committee has called for urgent emergency new legislation on planning policy to address the worsening housing emergency facing Ireland.

“The lack of housing is a major issue all over Ireland. I’ve seen it myself after public meetings in Navan, Galway, and Naas. We have a crisis of huge proportions on our hands. We can no longer face delays in implementing the best approach for the Midlands North West region" Ciaran Mullooly MEP said following a special hearing of the European Parliament’s Housing Crisis Committee in Brussels this week

The Committee welcomed leading European experts in housing, including two Irish experts, Michael O’Flynn, CEO of the O’Flynn Group, and John Coleman, CEO of the Land Development Agency, each providing a thorough analysis of the current Irish housing crisis. A practical theme that emerged was the urgent need to overhaul the planning system in Ireland, which was identified as a primary barrier to progress.

Michael O’Flynn with over 47 years of practical experience and whose company has built over 15,000 homes in Ireland, highlighted the scale of the challenge: “We have to face up to the number of houses required annually and the existing deficit. We haven’t been doing either.” Mullooly agreed, warning, “We cannot keep chasing our tails. Unless we treat this as the emergency it is, young people will be denied the opportunities we had.”

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MEP Mullooly called for immediate emergency legislation to accelerate both housing and infrastructure projects. O’Flynn proposed a pragmatic approach: “Get Irish Water to indicate on a map where they have access for water and wastewater, then rezone it. We need emergency legislation to accept applications.” Mullooly strongly supported this, saying, “We need to zone and service land, borrow for infrastructure, and ensure affordable housing is delivered at speed and scale. We owe this to our future generation”

It was agreed that such emergency measures must extend beyond housing to include water and wastewater infrastructure. O’Flynn stressed, “We need to bring in directive, legislation for this emergency. We did it for the financial crash. We did it for Covid. We need to make sure that we zone or accept planning. We can't have a situation where housing is becoming too expensive. The scarcity of land or main raw material is too expensive.”

Mullooly speaking afterwards said, “We must act. Up to 15,000 people are homeless in Ireland, including over 4,000 children. This is not about trampling on individual rights, but about deploying emergency legislation when it is needed to help our people get a home over their heads .”

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