Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I mean no disrespect to engineers because they build fantastic bridges and roads and make fantastic designs, but sometimes they lack the ability to conduct the ideas and that is very important in planning. One of the recommendations I will put forward is a county architect for every local authority. In some cases if local authorities need to share a county architect, that might be acceptable as well.

My next question on spatial planning and planning in general is probably for TU Dublin. If we want to encourage somebody to rejuvenate an upper floor of a terrace, often the space outside - the public realm, the footpath and the traffic calming measures which make it a nice place to live - is outside the remit of the developer or owner. How do we deal with the local authority and the developer who wants to do that? Do we put in the public realm first to encourage the over-the-shop rejuvenation or how do we get to work together? Does Mr. Reid wish to take that question?