Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their time today. This is a topic I could speak about all day but I will not. I know the Chair will make sure that does not happen. As a representative of an urban area, I want to ask Dr. O'Mahony and Mr. Murphy about the Dublin bikes scheme, which was referenced in the opening remarks. It has been a great success and it has provided that shift. Unfortunately for the region of Dublin, there has not been a bike sharing scheme to cover the entire area. This presents limitations to the benefits one can enjoy from this type of scheme. Will the witnesses touch on the regionalisation of bike and car sharing schemes and the benefits that would accrue from them?

My next question is for Mr. Cussen. I thank him for his opening statement and remarks. With regard to the guide to the planning process and the document he gave to us in advance of this meeting, I compliment his office on the information that has been given to the public about the planning process. The new leaflets are very beneficial and I compliment everyone involved. In saying this, recently we have witnessed a large volume of strategic housing developments, which I hope will come to an end quite shortly. Mr. Cussen spoke about sustainable planning. Does he have enough resources to deal with the large-scale developments, which, it has to be said, are mainly infill sites in urban areas? I am interested to hear his thoughts on this.

Mr. Cussen also spoke about the role and responsibility of the regional assembly. Taking in context the role of the regional assembly, and of the councils with regard to the climate action plans that each local authority is working through, what is Mr. Cussen's view of how we could reform or strengthen their role in all of this? At times, local authorities, particularly in Dublin, have their own individual climate action plans and on top of all of this is a regional strategy. I know they are all meant to intermingle at various levels but I find it cumbersome. Mr. Cussen might touch on this. Mr. Cussen also mentioned the brownfield land register and that it is his intention to have it complete. By when will this be done?