Mr. Robin Mandal:

That is the bit about head 1A that very much upsets me because it sets out what this Bill should be doing but then it contradicts it. The notion that national policy overrides local is one that needs to be attenuated a little bit. Perhaps “attenuated” is not the correct word. There needs to be much more grey in respect of policy and much more black-and-white in respect of development control.

As I said earlier, the national planning framework, which I do not have to remind the committee did not go to the Dáil, is there and the national policy objectives are very good. It is like American motherhood and apple pie. They are certainly good but they are not carried out in reality on the ground.

I could cite particular ones but there is no point in doing that. The issue is that we see more and more power going towards the centre, which is national policy, which can be good if modulated where we need to have that policy-led structure going down the rungs. Without the stuff coming back up, however, it is autocratic and one loses everybody and it does not foster good decision-making. All one has to do is to look at those top-down diktats and the impact they have had. They have not been good outcomes.

In my entire career, I never, ever, heard about a judicial review. After I was thrown out of my practice, or retired, depending on which way one says it, I heard more than I ever want to hear. That is because centralisation is not working, I am afraid.