Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree. One of the issues with SHDs relates to what An Bord Pleanála generally gets from a planner's report. The SHDs that have been tested in the courts have been upheld. However, there is a wider issue concerning how An Bord Pleanála and people engage with the planning system. I suggest that, while the SHDs should form the part of our work, An Bord Pleanála is not fit for purpose when it comes to submissions being made to it. It does not have an online system in 2020. It did not develop an online system during Covid even when SHDs and other large-scale applications were being processed.

Might we also make suggestions to An Bord Pleanála instead of just focusing on the SHD process? There is much that we need to interrogate, including An Bord Pleanála's democratic accountability and public accessibility.