ByrneWallace LLP Housing, Infrastructure and Planning Convention examines the current obstacles and emerging trends in housing infrastructure and planning

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The impact of Ireland’s current infrastructure and planning limitations on Irish housing development, and the degree to which housing delivery rates and plans for infrastructure development impact on inward investment competitiveness, were the key focus of this year’s ByrneWallace LLP Housing, Infrastructure and Planning Convention, in association with Property Industry Ireland (PII), which took place in the Aviva, on Thursday, 26 September 2024. 

Guest of honour Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD opened the event and said: “I am delighted to contribute to this housing and infrastructure convention organised by ByrneWallace which brings together key industry leaders, stakeholders and representatives from private and public sectors as well as funders and investors. Government has big ambition to massively scale up our housing and infrastructure delivery in the coming period but we know this has to happen in collaboration with a range of stakeholders and partners across the sector including construction, planning and financing. Today’s event is a really important opportunity to share perspectives and identify challenges as well as the opportunities for the sector.”

Chief Economist from Goodbody, Dermot O’Leary presented the economic landscape, highlighting the international risks and opportunities to Ireland’s economic model, and emphasised that meeting the infrastructural needs is crucial to Ireland’s ongoing success.  

Dermot O’Leary said: “Ireland’s economic performance has put major strains on infrastructure in terms of energy, housing, transport and education. There are a lot of risks and opportunities from international themes such as digitalisation, climate change and active industrial policy. Ireland cannot do much to influence these but it can get its own housing order by improving its infrastructure. The ‘Apple monies’ offers an opportunity to put down a major down payment on this infrastructure strategy.”

Marian Finnegan, Managing Director of Sherry FitzGerald Residential & Advisory, discussed the challenges in the Irish housing market outlining key demand and supply-side trends influencing the sector, highlighting the urgent need for policy reforms and targeted measures to bridge the supply-demand gap and stabilise housing prices.

Marian Finnegan said: “All key market indicators highlight that the persistent supply challenges are now heavily impacting transaction volumes and driving price inflation in the residential market. It is crucial, therefore, that we acknowledge, without bias, the urgent need for a substantial increase in housing delivery targets, alongside the implementation of effective measures to ensure their achievement.”

The Convention then featured three panel discussions examining the three pillars – housing, planning and infrastructure - with insights on the opportunities and challenges of each area provided by three formidable speakers: 

• Paul Hogan, Assistant Secretary, Head of Planning Division, Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage who discussed the current planning reform agenda;

• Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor Monetary & Financial Stability, Central Bank of Ireland who set the scene for developments in housing in the State over the past couple of decades, examining how the boom-bust cycles have shaped the market, and some of the scaring that we have seen, as well as outlining estimations for future housing needs, current supply and financing issues, and the importance of resilience in financing through the cycle; and

• Volker Ziemann Ph.D., an economist at the OECD, who placed the Irish housing crisis in a broader international context and introduced the new OECD Agenda for Housing Policy Reforms.

Vasileios Madouros said, “Achieving higher levels of housing supply will be essential to support sustainable growth in living standards, now and in the future. Our assessment is that policy focus should be in the areas of supply-side reform. These include delivering enabling infrastructure, greater certainty and efficiency in the planning process and measures to support productivity in the construction sector. Transitioning to the delivery of an additional 20,000 housing units a year also has broader macroeconomic implications, which need to be managed carefully.”

Volker Ziemann said: "Our OECD housing policy reform calls for bold action across four key areas: making the regulatory framework more flexible to unlock housing supply, encouraging investments in the construction of social and affordable housing, creating tax policies that promote both renting and home ownership fairly, and ensuring housing finance supports both stability and sustainability. Achieving these objectives requires better coordination within and across all levels of government to create synergies and effectively address trade-offs in the pursuit of efficient, inclusive, and sustainable housing markets."

ByrneWallace LLP Partners Martin Cooney, Head of Infrastructure, Construction and Energy, Fergal Ruane, Head of Infrastructure and Projects, and Neil Dunne, Head of Housing, led the three individual panel discussions, debating the key issues and opportunities, with industry experts including: 

• Brian Foley SC, Member of the Inner Bar, The Bar of Ireland

• David Caffrey, Director of Planning, Glenveagh Properties PLC

• Aidan Sweeney, Head of Infrastructure & Environmental Sustainability, Ibec

• Breda O’Sullivan, Head of Corporate Strategy, Planning and Strategic Policy, IDA Ireland

• Michele Connolly, Head of Infrastructure Sector and Head of Corporate Finance, KPMG Ireland

• Parag Joglekar, Director of Investment and Development, Respond

• Myles Shortall, Acting Senior Director of Central Services at Lidl Ireland & Northern Ireland 

Commenting on the Convention, ByrneWallace LLP Chair of Property Michael Walsh, who chaired the event, said, “Today we examined the extent to which the current major refresh of the legal framework for planning will achieve a better balance between competing interests, especially in the context of housing and infrastructure delivery.  We examined the greater need for efficiency in the housing system to maximise the benefit of capital expenditure and to reduce delays and related costs. 

“The OECD’s agenda for housing policy reform pointed to three governing principles that will guide policy makers in terms of the necessary trade-offs needed in this area. The tension between sustainability, inclusiveness and efficiency, inevitably means that compromises need to be made. 

“As regards infrastructure it was said today that the Data Centre sector is like the canary in the coal mine and that we are already seeing signs that housing delivery is and may soon be impacted materially by lack of availability of key services infrastructure.

“There was also broad recognition today that the State has become the dominant actor in the domestic residential market; however to ramp up housing supply by 20,000 units per annum, along with the required infrastructure delivery, could require annual capital deployment in the region of €10 billion above current investment levels. This funding will need to come from a variety of sources both domestic and international and we need to ensure that the policy and regulatory environment remains attractive as regards that capital whilst protecting resilience.” 

PII Director Dr. David Duffy added: “The ByrneWallace Housing, Infrastructure & Planning Convention provides an important platform for public and private sector stakeholders to come together and address the evolving challenges and opportunities within Ireland’s housing market. Collaboration between developers, investors, and policymakers will play a key role in shaping sustainable housing solutions for the future. There is momentum within the housebuilding sector at present but long-term planning is critical. The delivery of new homes requires appropriate long-term planning and sufficient infrastructure, including utilities, wastewater and transport.”

Pictured above at the ByrneWallace LLP Housing Infrastructure and Planning Convention, in association with Property Industry Ireland (“PII”), at the Aviva, Dublin, (L:R) Marian Finnegan, Managing Director of Sherry FitzGerald Residential & Advisory, ByrneWallace LLP Chair of Property Michael Walsh, Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD, ByrneWallace LLP Head of Property Alison O'Sullivan and Dermot O’Leary, Chief Economist from Goodbody.

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Pictured above at the ByrneWallace LLP Housing Infrastructure and Planning Convention, in association with Property Industry Ireland (“PII”), at the Aviva, Dublin, (L:R) Neil Dunne, ByrneWallace LLP Head of Housing, Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor Monetary & Financial Stability, Central Bank of Ireland, David Caffrey, Director of Planning, Glenveagh Properties PLC, Volker Ziemann Ph.D., an economist at the OECD, Myles Shortall, Acting Senior Director of Central Services at Lidl Ireland & Northern Ireland, Fergal Ruane, ByrneWallace LLP Head of Infrastructure and Projects, Michele Connolly, Head of Infrastructure Sector and Head of Corporate Finance, KPMG Ireland, Marian Finnegan, Managing Director of Sherry FitzGerald Residential & Advisory, Michael Walsh, ByrneWallace LLP Chair of Property, Minister for Finance, Jack ChambersTD, Martin Cooney, ByrneWallace LLP Head of Infrastructure, Construction and Energy, Alison O'Sullivan, ByrneWallace LLP Head of Property, Parag Joglekar, Director of Investment and Development, Respond, Anthony Smyth, Head of ByrneWallace LLP Tax Advisors, Dermot O’Leary, Chief Economist from Goodbody, Aidan Sweeney, Head of Infrastructure & Environmental Sustainability, Ibec, Dr. David Duffy, Property Industry Ireland Director and Breda O’Sullivan, Head of Corporate Strategy, Planning and Strategic Policy, IDA Ireland.