Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 23 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Gavin Lawlor:

We do not know. We have had limited time with the Bill. It is extensive legislation that makes a significant number of changes to what is in place. Its intent is laudable. It is exactly what all the institutes have been seeking for quite some time, that is, for it to be streamlined and simplified. One positive is that it is very easy to read, far more so than the previous legislation, which had cross-references left, right and centre. It is more clear in certain areas. There is a significant amount of change, however, and the concern on our side of the table is that it is like spot the ball or spot the difference. That gives rise to nervousness regarding the quality of the legislation. It is not necessarily the issues with which we have problems that we have spotted - we can enunciate those, tell the committee about them and suggest alternatives. Rather, our concern relates to the issues we have not yet spotted. There may be things we miss, so to speak. That is a nervousness rather than a concern.

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