Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Regarding the point made about having biodiversity officers and conservation officers and the range of different skills and expertise that are so valuable in local authorities, when those roles and skills are missing the cost incurred from their absence is evident. Conversely, when they are in place it is possible to see the great value brought to bear by a small number of individuals with broader experience and expertise. In that context, will the announcement the Minister is going to make ensure that every local authority will have that range of competencies? Will that be done? I ask the Minister of State to address that aspect.

We are all keenly aware of the lack of resources at the local authority planning level. The coming announcement is welcome, but what has been done to assess the level of the existing deficit that must be plugged? How can we be confident that the announcement will be sufficient to meet the need? What sort of analysis has been done in that regard? Will the gap in resources that has been identified be met in full? I ask the Minister of State to tell us a bit about that aspect. In addition, while it is important to have sufficient resources available at the decision-making stage, forward planning is also important and that aspect has been greatly under-resourced. Will that deficiency be sufficiently addressed as part of this announcement as well?