The successful achievement of higher housing densities would require a "radical overhaul" of local authority systems, particularly their planning and architectural departments. This is the view of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland and the Irish Planning Institute in a joint submission to the Department of the Environment in response to its housing-density guidelines.
The president of the architects' institute, Mr Eoin O Cofaigh, said both bodies had been calling for a move to higher-density housing. However they had made it clear that higher densities would require much improved standards of house design and layout.