Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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We would be of the view that section 5 should remain as is but maybe we need to tease out one or two of those complications.

Section 28 deals with ministerial guidelines and has been well discussed previously. IEN refers to "untrammelled powers of the Minister". Indeed, I think I have heard the network use that phrase once or twice previously. At the moment the Minister can issue a guideline and under this legislation it is going to be called a national planning statement or a national policy statement. Do our guests think it would be better if the statement was in some way scrutinised within the Oireachtas to ascertain its intention, the problem it is trying to fix and the rationale behind it? Perhaps it could be brought to an Oireachtas committee like this one for just one session so that members could tease out all of the issues around what the Minister is trying to achieve. Would that allay some of those concerns around "untrammelled" powers?