Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I believe we will have time for another run-around on this issue, when we can come back to it. I will now take the next slot and I want to go back again to this development plan because I believe this is the key to it.

From my experience, one tends to have more people engaged with local area plans, LAPs, because, in the first instance, one is just in with the local councillors. For the councillor based in the south or north of the constituency, they may not have the knowledge or interest in that area on a county basis with regard to half of the stuff going into the county development plan. I find that the local area plan process is much more engaging, where there are many more people involved in that. Do our witnesses believe that with the doing away with of the LAPs, and where we will be bringing in these urban area plans, priority area plans and these joint area plans across two boundaries, we will have the opportunity then to get good involvement in the planning process? Is there anything in the Bill that would give our guests any comfort in that area? There is not much description of what those plans are.