Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The review and analysis was led by the Office of the Attorney General. Any research that was undertaken fed into the legal advice provided. As part of that process, the advice led to the provisions now being included in this section. With regard to Deputy O’Callaghan’s question on the assignment of more judges, that is a matter for the courts system. We have set up a specific court, but in respect of the case management and the load, that is not within our remit. We have made progress in that regard and I am sure further progress will be made in the time ahead.

With regard to the fundamentals of this section, Deputy Ó Broin specifically stated twice that this will have the opposite effect, which I disagree with. He feels we will have slower decision-making time and he feels there will be, again, a failure to deliver on housing. I disagree. It is important we get this section right. The Government is bringing forward important steps to ensure we have quicker decision-making and we can have faster delivery of housing infrastructure. That is principally the reason we have gone to great lengths to include this section. We have also gone to great lengths to get the most accurate advice from the AG and the legal advisers on the legal process for judicial reviews. That is central to what the Government is bringing forward here.