Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to consider at some point the issue of by-laws and partial reviews as opposed to full reviews. Local authorities very often say that they cannot do something until a raft of matters are dealt with because they must carry out the totality of a scheme. It is very frustrating because it delays matters around which there should be flexibility. I can see the point in providing the flexibility in the Bill for the individual local authorities to consider specific proposals as opposed to a generalised approach. This probably overcomes the issue of the definition to some degree. It permits lower speed limits where they have not previously been permitted. The typical answer of local authorities has been that they were not legally allowed to apply lower speed limits. That is a valid finding in the report.

Regarding the estates not taken in charge, the current situation in which the extension of duration is permitted to a planning permission can mean that people cannot petition to have their housing estate taken in charge for up to 17 years after planning permission has been granted. These are often the very estates in which there are large numbers of young children. Why would it not be legally permissible to have speed limits applied to estates that are not taken in charge? They are built to particular design standards.