Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I hope to be brief. In adding to Dr. D'Arcy's point, we hope that in the miscellaneous provisions legislation we will soon introduce the experimental traffic orders regulation, which will be critical in enabling local authorities to do those trials without fear of ending up in the High Court. That will be really important.

On the same point, I have spoken with a senior planner in Utrecht in the Netherlands. He said that even in the Netherlands they always had difficulty persuading businesses to change a street, remove parking, introduce cycle lanes, widen footpaths or whatever it might be. In that country they have a compensation package and if the business can demonstrate that it has been affected by the change to the public realm, it can be compensated. The evidence is they never have to pay out because 98% of the time the businesses do better when the work is done.

I go back to a question I asked previously but I did not leave the witnesses with enough time to answer. That question relates to the national planning framework and I direct it to the witnesses from NESC and TU Dublin. Will they comment on the national planning framework and whether it is fit for purpose? Would they like to see a substantial review of it in 2024? As I said earlier, my concern is that it allows for much development outside our urban settlements, thus diminishing the potential of our towns and villages.