Mr. Dave Walsh:

The first point is that the board operates within the functions to it assigned by the Oireachtas and the Minister. We were assigned the role to deal with strategic housing developments within the bounds of what had originally been set out in the 2017 Act and the regulations from the Minister.

It may be more a matter for the Department to explain the justification. However, in the context of addressing the issue of input from all levels, from the local authorities as well as from the applicants and third parties who are interested in the case, one thing that has worked quite well within the system is the tripartite discussions that happen during the pre-planning arrangements. These take place in the first nine weeks of the period. The applicant, the local authority in all its different guises - planners, water people - as well as the board and its inspectors, will meet to discuss the key issues that the local authority, the board and the applicants feel are critical to developing a proposal of the scale that is within the bounds of the SHD legislation. That allows a very clear and formal process to enable views to be expressed, akin to the section 247 processes that the local authority would have had before. This is very much to identify, as part of a final report for the pre-planning, critical issues that the board or indeed the local authority, which will submit its own report, would highlight and that a developer or proposer needs to reach-----