Mr. Colin Ryan:

I cannot comment on a particular planning application and I will not make any comment on that.

Broadly speaking, a planning application has to be assessed and adjudicated upon in accordance with the county development plan and in accordance with the legislation. It stands on its own two feet and can be appealed to An Bord Pleanála, and An Bord Pleanála then makes a decision on it independently of the Department and anybody else. There are two points I would make in that regard. First, there are related objectives in the various development plans. We discussed the unintended consequences of that in terms of other land uses and the proximity of schools within town centres.

On the guidance, that is a broader issue to do with moving, cycling and walking. The definition of a takeaway is something far more complex. It is not black and white. From a promotional point of view, in terms of what planning can do to assist in tackling levels of obesity, one of the key components is movement and the capability of permeability, etc., would be touched on. That is where the focus would be from a planning point of view. When one gets down to the issues of the ins and outs of a particular application at a particular point in a particular context, that has to stand on its own two feet in deciding on whether it is an existing use, a new use or an extension to an existing use. All of those matters need to be taken into consideration.