Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has raised an important point in stating that MABS should be fully resourced to deal with this in the event that these issues continue.

I have a few questions. On the public consultation, it should be noted that public participation and attendance feature in all stages of county development plan sessions in local authority chambers and in submissions, and access is available online. I have always defended the importance of public access and participation in respect of all planning matters. The greater the public participation, the greater the likelihood that the outcome from that process is going to be more acceptable and better for all involved. It does not unduly concern me that a public meeting may now be online or in a town hall, church hall, or wherever it may be. In fact, I know from working with my own forward planning section in Wicklow, that it may now be possible to have four public meetings in one day, whereas before, it may have taken a week for planners to do this. Therefore, we must consider the balance between the positives it brings and the perceptions of the negatives it brings, including that some people may not have access to online meetings, although I believe Internet access has improved during lockdown.

Mr. Hogan referred to the guidelines for local authorities in development plan processes. Will that also include guidance on how to conduct a public meeting, and will the facilities, the technical resources and supports be there for local authorities to embrace this straight away? In general, the move to e-planning is a very positive one, because the planning and development consent processes generate so much paperwork and many files. The online and e-planning approach is the way to go, provided that each local authority can provide the same standard. On some local authority websites, the planning system is very hard to navigate, whereas with others, it is much easier to read, and some people prefer to have those paper files in their hands. Will the guidelines for the local authorities cover the public meeting at the issue stage of the development plan process?