Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not just any comment. The IPI is a hugely important body in terms of this legislation because it represents the country's planners. It engaged with the committee and the Chair may remember that some of its commentary was quite stark and very forthright. The institute made a subsequent submission to the Department which was then shared with the committee after the final text of the Bill was published. Public comments made by the president of the IPI are important. I am not suggesting we bring everybody's opinion into this committee but of all the bodies we reasonably could request the Minister to respond to, if the IPI, the body that represents professional planners, is saying there is a problem, then it should be looked at. One of the reasons we are asking for greater levels of public participation, particularly from prescribed bodies with respect to regulations, is that professional planners and their representative bodies are telling us that they are not being listened to. If that is the case with the Bill and, as the Chair correctly pointed out, formalised pre-legislative scrutiny, I can only imagine how the IPI feels with respect to regulations in which it may have no role whatsoever, despite being one of the prescribed bodies we would expect to be included on foot of the amendment we are proposing.