Mr. Niall Cussen:

I do not disagree with the Senator's point about the weakness of the current mid-term monitoring arrangements. We have seen in our reviews of local authorities that sometimes this is done very comprehensively but at other times it is not done or it is done in a very light-touch manner. The reports are not publicly accessible and to some extent we get the sense of it being a box-ticking exercise.

In terms of the ten-year plans, there is a balancing act, in particular in weighing up the enormous work that goes into preparing, for example, the Dublin city development plan. The fact is that the fabric of the city is constantly changing. It does not change significantly over a five-year period but perhaps over a ten-year period. One could ask if a better balance would be to have a plan that has a strategic perspective. There is a very clear provision in the Bill in regard to the interim implementation report, which is a much more involved process than the current monitoring report. It may trigger a variation of the development plan, going back to Deputy Ó Broin’s point, to bring it up to speed with the evolving policy context and other considerations. It may require some more work but there is a much more solid, strategic approach to doing the development plan and then doing a very good NCT on it at the five-year mark. That could have a statutory variation process with engagement from the public and the members. There is a reasonable balance between the competing and conflicting demands.