Taoiseach Micheál Martin has clashed in the Dáil with the Opposition over plans to revise apartment standards which are currently at the centre of a High Court action. During Leader’s Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said that revisions to apartment planning standards sought to “rip up” the prior standards and “gut planning rules”. The Government introduced changes to apartment planning standards in July as part of an effort to reduce construction costs. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns accused the Government of recycling old ideas on apartment standards, which had not worked before. Those taking the case in the High Court claim that the guidelines should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment.
