Collins: Housing emergency needed to end serial objections and fix planning and water infrastructure gridlock

Collins: Housing emergency needed to end serial objections and fix planning and water infrastructure gridlock

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins TD has said the time has come for the Government to formally declare a housing emergency and introduce emergency legislation that will put an end to the planning paralysis driven by “serial objectors and procedural sabotage”.

Collins said it is “frankly absurd” that critical housing and infrastructure projects across Ireland are being blocked by individuals or groups “with no connection to the communities affected and no accountability for the consequences.”

“We are back on the blame merry-go-round,” said Collins. “The Government blames Irish Water, Irish Water blames the Government, and nothing gets done. Meanwhile, a person or group in Donegal can submit an objection that stops a wastewater plant being built in West Cork. It's nonsensical—and we are at a standstill as a result.”

The Cork South-West TD described the situation in parts of West Cork as “scandalous”, pointing to rural communities where new housing is impossible because of inadequate or non-existent water infrastructure, with no clarity on when—if ever—this will be resolved.

“There are towns and villages where people literally cannot build a home because the infrastructure isn’t there—and they’re being told we don't know if this will be resolved by 2030, 2040 or even 2050,” he said. “How can that be acceptable in a functioning democracy?”

Collins said the combination of serial objections, legal challenges, and fragmented responsibility between agencies has created a planning system “that rewards delay and penalises delivery.”

Declaring a housing emergency, he argued, would give the State the legal framework to urgently reform planning laws, limit vexatious and distant objections, prioritise infrastructure delivery, and unlock housing projects that have been stuck in limbo.

“This is not about overriding genuine environmental or community concerns,” he said. “It’s about ending the circus where one or two individuals—sometimes from hundreds of kilometres away—can hold entire communities to ransom while thousands remain homeless.”

He reiterated calls for the Government to convene a special sitting of the Dáil and Seanad before the summer recess to pass emergency legislation.

“We cannot fix a housing crisis with a planning system that’s designed to stall,” he said. “And we cannot keep pretending this is business as usual. We need emergency powers. We need a housing emergency declared. And we need action—not excuses.”