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

The Irish Planning Institute makes the point that there is a myriad of guidelines that are confusing and that it makes it more difficult to make decisions. It is almost a convenient way of blaming a cohort of society, namely the public who have an interest in the planning decision by virtue of living beside a development that is planned. They appear to be the cohort that are being cut out, with very tenuous arguments being advanced for doing so. There could be a very significant monetary price to be paid in later years by rushing decisions through An Bord Pleanála that otherwise would have been property scrutinised by the various sections of the local authority, such as the fire officer, the roads and sanitary services departments, all which have substantial levels of local information that is critical to making good decisions. An Bord Pleanála will not be able to write the type of conditions that would be necessary to overcome difficulties that will present into the future. There is a supposition that the local authorities are the source of delays that necessitates this so-called fast tracking approach, whereas there is no understanding of where the delays could actually be minimised.

I will not keep repeating this at every hand's turn but I think it is a very big mistake to rush through, not think it out and not understand where the delays could be minimised.