Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree that we should be doing that but we do not at the moment. It is not a requirement. It is very easy to submit a planning application without doing so. All applicants are supposed to demonstrate how transport, infrastructure and services issues will be dealt with, but we still do not seem to have included a requirement on the carbon associated with the construction method and the carbon that could be saved by retaining an existing building. There is a particular emphasis on derelict and vacant buildings at present. Where do the delegates see what I am talking about coming into the planning system? Are there any moves to introduce it into the system? Bearing in mind what Deputy Higgins asked about in respect of legislation, maybe we should be seeking, as another component of the planning application, a demonstration of the carbon cost of the construction and the running costs, in addition to the decommissioning cost of the building at a later stage. Would that be too onerous on the planning systems of our local authorities, or is there some other way?