David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

His reply stated:

Public participation and consultation was a key element in developing the National Planning Framework since preparatory work began on developing the framework in late 2014. There have been two formal phases of public consultation, including the publication of an Issues and Choices paper over February/March 2017 and the publication of a consultation draft of the National Planning Framework over October/November 2017, as well as a range of other regional and stakeholder events. Some 700 submissions were generated by the publication of the Issues and Choices paper and over 1,000 submissions were received during the 6-week public consultation on the draft NPF.  Finalisation of the NPF benefited substantially from these submissions. Public awareness was key to ensuring a broad range of citizen and stakeholder engagement and in this regard, an effective awareness and advertising campaign was crucial and the costs incurred were modest in comparison to the breadth and duration of the Framework. At pre-draft consultation stage, costs of €60,000 were incurred on advertising-related activities and a further €70,000 was incurred at the draft stage.