Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

People have engaged in and are in the middle of a process under the planning guidelines and the planning legislation that were in place. We cannot just tell them to get out of that and go into something else. They have to operate under the legislation that is applicable and effective at the time they make the application. The Deputy is fully entitled to his opinion. Obviously, I have to act within the law and based on the advice I have. We also have to have an element of fairness. We cannot tell people, "You have engaged with this process right the way up, but forget about that now and go into a new process and start all over again." That in itself could have the effect of delaying. I think most people understand that we need transitionary arrangements. The difference of opinion here is on how long or short those arrangements should be and how we should transition from one system to another.