Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

These points are critically important. We are also looking forward to that announcement by the Minister. There will also be a review of the planning fees. We need them to be more reflective of the interdisciplinary nature of planning decisions and the complexity now required at local government level in that regard to ensure robustness in planning decision-making. That applies not only to the planning sections specifically, but also to aspects such as having in place biodiversity officers, architects, conservation officers and climate officers. They can all contribute to a planning decision and how such a decision is made. Given the scale of ambition in the programme for Government regarding policies on climate, biodiversity and town centres, there is an onus on local government to play a central role in this regard. Local government has always played its part and always matched the challenge it has faced. In that regard, we wish to ensure that local government is adequately resourced to enable it to carry out this important work.