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

I endorse Senator Boyhan's comments on the Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance. They have a lot of experience, expertise and knowledge. A lot of the alliance members have professional experience of many years. Engagement with them would be very useful. In the overall area of planning, complex planning law is bad law. I completely agree that it leads to confusion, delay and litigation.

Clear legislation has many benefits. If legislation is clear, it is much easier for the public to participate and for people to hold the entire process to account. It also means a reduction in delays. In 2018, the Chief Justice made comments about the importance of clear legislation, especially in respect of planning law, in an environmental context. He suggested that if legislation was done better in Leinster House, it would lead to much quicker decisions with less litigation and fewer delays on projects. He was pointing to that as the issue rather than access to the courts and justice, which I think is absolutely correct.

When we hear words like "streamlining", there is concern that it could potentially be used to undermine people's access to justice. That has been particularly important historically, as Senator Boyhan was saying, for environmental NGOs. There have been great advances for the environment as well as in other areas including workers' rights and equality. They have happened because of access to justice through the courts and through people looking for European Union law to be properly upheld and transposed. Could Ms Graham talk us through the timeline for the overall planning review? What are her thoughts and expectations at the moment?