Minister for Housing James Browne and the Department of Housing have been criticised for not stating what the average waiting time for a planning decision from An Coimisiún Pleanála is.
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín claimed it was unforgivable that Mr Browne does not have this information.
He said some builders were waiting up to a year for a planning decision and these delays were contributing to the housing crisis.
Minister Browne has insisted that he is focused on delivering a more efficient planning system, not political point-scoring.
Mr Tóibín recently raised the matter with the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy after the information was not provided in a reply to a parliamentary question.
A response was then issued from the Department of Housing which stated that outside of ensuring that An Bord Pleanála has sufficient resources to conduct its business, and implementing legislation to introduce statutory timelines for cases, the minister does not have a role in its day-to-day operations.
"Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of the Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas," it said.
Minister Browne said it is not correct to suggest that himself or his Department are indifferent to planning delays.
"Quite the opposite," he said.
"That's why we have taken clear, concrete steps to address the backlog at An Bord Pleanála, including additional resourcing of the organisation, establishing An Coimisiún Pleanála that will have statutory timelines for decisions with Paul Reid as chairperson.
"However, as Deputy Tóibín is well aware, as is standard across departments, operational details like average waiting times of independent, statutory bodies are not held by the Department but are a matter for the agencies themselves."
"The Parliamentary Question was answered in line with longstanding practice, with contact details provided so the Deputy can get the precise information directly from the body responsible," Mr Browne said.
