Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan12 Nov 2025

What is wrong with Ireland’s housing and planning system?

The government has come under increasing intense criticism of its record on housing, and the sluggishness with which its addressed the need to build more affordable homes.

Today on Inside Politics, Hugh Linehan discusses the issues with the planning and regulatory system that some argue is slowing down the process of boosting housing supply in Ireland.

In an essay published in The Irish Times last month, the tech billionaire and founder of Stripe John Collison argued construction, and infrastructure projects more generally, are being held back by regulation and judicial barriers stemming from the planning corruption scandals of the 1980’s and 90’s.

On the podcast today is Orla Hegarty, assistant professor at University College Dublin and a fellow at the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, dismissed Mr Collisons case, saying: “It jumps to a solution that doesn’t relate to the problem”.

“There is a thinking that if the market isn’t functioning, the issue must be regulation. That’s a really naive take.

”The evidence doesn’t support that" she added.

Hugh is also joined by Sean Keyes, the executive director of the think tank Progress Ireland, for which John Collison is a significant financial donor, says the argument is not solely about de-regulation.

“We need to build new agency. We need to build state capacity”.

He added: “What the national planning framework does is basically put a thump on the scale of building in Dublin”.

Produced by JJ Vernon and Andrew McNair

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