Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and thank everybody for being here with us to today and sharing their perspectives on what is a lengthy draft Bill. I appreciate a lot of work went into that. The witnesses have come here with detailed views and I thank them for that.

I suppose what all of us want is an efficient and effective planning system with transparency at its heart. What we as a committee are trying to get a handle on is the feedback of stakeholders out there into how we can make sure this draft Bill achieves that.

Obviously, there has been quite a lot of consultation already through the planning advisory forum and the submissions to it and now at this joint Oireachtas committee level. It has been great to have so many different groups in before us to consult with them to get their perspectives on the record. From our perspective, we will be taking those views, ideas, concerns and initiatives raised here and putting them into our own recommendations and report. As the Chair has said, everybody is free to make direct submissions to the Department but it would be great if we could see them too.

On the ten-year development plan, I fully agree with a lot of what people have said here today around the preparation time for it. Planning is more complex now. There are more assessments needed. There is more expertise needed. Sometimes those experts are in short supply and you have to wait for them to become available. I fully agree in terms of that preparation time needing to be a little more flexed.

From the review of the development plan, I would feel that the same is true that maybe we need to have an elongated process there. I would be keen to hear both organisations' perspectives on how the review should work. I am keen to make sure is that it is a meaningful review. It is the opportunity, in my view, for community, public representatives and the executive of the local authority to put forward new directions or new proposals based on a situation five years later. I do not know that the draft Bill provides for that. It seems to very much be leaning towards chief executives making directives and I would be keen to hear both organisations views on that.

The RIAI referenced Nordic and European counterparts twice in its submission. In one, the RIAI talks about it in the context of low-rise, medium density. I would be keen to learn more about what other countries are doing there and whose footsteps the RIAI thinks we should be following in.

The Irish Environmental Network, IEN, has articulated a concern that some provisions in this draft Bill may end up being counterproductive in that rather than speeding things up they may risk delays if they are opening to legal challenges or restrictions from that perspective. I would like to ask the IEN about that.

Another issue that has come up in the course of these discussions, and which was raised by the RIAI, is the e-planning system. While our guests are talking about the electronic system going a little bit further than what is currently envisaged and provided for, I would be really keen to know IEN's perspective on whether the current system, which varies from local authority to local authority in terms of how quickly planning applications can be scanned and put online for members of the public to see, is a barrier to public engagement when it comes to planning.