Ms Mary Henchy:

Concerning resources, while we do not have a detailed breakdown regarding the additional resources that may be required, from a review of the heads and a knowledge of the working of the SHD process to date, it is clear that there are going to be additional requirements in local authorities in respect of administration and the administration of the process itself. Significant aspects of that process will now be the responsibility of the local authorities rather than the applicant or the board. In addition, other departments, and not just planners, will now need to have an input into applications, because of the breadth of knowledge required in respect of informing considerations at the pre-planning and application stages. That is in addition to the demands themselves. I state that because this is an on-demand service. The timelines are set out clearly and we have no control over when these demands will be made of us. In itself, that will bring about requirements. It is, therefore, a difficult aspect to quantify, but it is certainly one which we will work on with the Department. Turning to the numbers, that is one issue. The second issue is resourcing the requirements accompanying those numbers and that is open for discussion.