Dr. Se?n O'Leary:

Before I let Mr. Keran and Mr. Jones in on that, I believe it goes back to something the Cathaoirleach mentioned. Implied in all this is a whole new set of skill sets for local authorities and for planners on top of everything else. We have spoken about that. That is again a sense of realism about the skills that are available and the skills that need to be acquired by planners and local authorities.

In terms of the history and the alternative approaches, Mr. Keran might introduce it and Mr. Jones can talk members through one section of the draft Bill and what it means. Certainly, from a personal perspective as a planner who went through planning school quite a while ago, finally to see the Kenny report possibly being made real in some sort of way, having gone through constitutional issues and all sorts of stuff, indicates that the intentions behind this Bill are welcome. It is good finally to see that the planners coming out today, even if there are not enough of them, will actually see some progress on the Kenny report being made real. Again, harking back to the history of the Wide Streets Commission and the fact we have done this in the past, we can do this and the principle of this and something finally happening in this space is very welcome in the first instance. However, Mr. Keran and Mr. Jones will discuss it further.