Mr. Pat Farrell:

One of the things, because it cannot be divorced from this because it is part of the whole ecosystem, is reform of the housing need and demand assessment, HNDA, model. We have already identified, analysed and diagnosed what the issue is there. It is self-evident and I would not be taking up scarce time on that.

The other very important thing is certainty of outcome. Everyone agrees that when race is run and the day is done, the outcome may not be what was wanted in terms of decision, but what it is critical is to get a decision and in the timeframes that have been set out. We said in our submission that, even when there is an extended deadline, there should be a deadline attached to that as well because, at the moment, that is not what happens. Once it goes beyond the first deadline, you are lost in a wilderness in terms of when you might get an outcome.

The other piece is around the material contravention regarding which, again not to take up too much time as that has already been articulated, there is a need to maintain that ability. We live in a very dynamic country, our population is changing rapidly and none of the things were forecast 20 years ago about what would happen in this country in terms of pace of economic growth and growth in population. That is likely to continue, so we need the system to be sufficiently dynamic to be able to take account of that. That is why we say the material contravention aspect in particular circumstances needs to be maintained.