Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, what is disappointing about the meeting we will have on 14 July is that we will not have the benefit of the report that has been done by Remy Farrell. That will be problematic for our hearing.

The other thing is that there were significant changes after that review. I am not saying that every one of the recommendations should not have been implemented, but there have been significant changes to An Bord Pleanála's remit in respect of strategic housing developments, which is where many of the issues are focused. We are going to have some difficulty having a satisfactory meeting in advance of the publication of that report. I know that the regulator is doing another review of the structures and procedures of An Bord Pleanála. We do not know when the regulator will complete that or whether or not that will be a public document. It might be worth writing to the regulator - whether that is appropriate or not is something we might consider - just to see exactly what the intention is there. The checks and balances should not be down to an individual; they should be down to the structures being robust enough to make sure that issues do not arise. I am sure that is why the regulator is in there. The regulator is going to be important in the context of the current issues. One of the issues we talked about the last time was the fact that one third of An Bord Pleanála's budget is now being spent on legal challenges in respect of judicial reviews. Even where An Bord Pleanála is successful with those, the costs tend to be paid by An Bord Pleanála.