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

Obviously, I disagree. I am not going to labour the point but wish to make three points. The first concerns the determination of what constitutes a holiday period. Ultimately, that would be a matter for regulation. General provisions could set out what the periods are, and that would be in the gift of the Minister. The problem with this section is that it deals precisely with those cases in which the time period has not been prescribed in the legislation.

Notwithstanding the Department's record, as the Minister has outlined it, the relevant provision relates to the Office of the Planning Regulator, regional assemblies and planning authorities – a whole range of actors. Although I do not believe all these bodies engage in best practice, let us imagine they do. This would not be an argument against ensuring clarity regarding what "reasonable" means, because best practice can come and go depending on who is running the planning authority, the staff, the conditions, etc. Likewise, even if the Minister's efforts regarding consultation are the gold standard – if so, I commend him – he could be replaced by somebody who does not believe in consultation, for example.