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

The Minister of State explained that, under section 34, a new national planning policy statement will be issued. There will be a procedure within which the regional assembly will have to do a report and the Office of the Planning Regulator will have to determine whether there is a material inconsistency. If there is, "the director of the regional assembly shall invoke the expedited amendment procedure" outlined in section 35. What I am trying to get my head around, and this is also an invitation to the Minister of State to set some of this out in plain English on the public record, is what happens when the director of the regional assembly invokes the section 35 procedure. Section 35(6) sets out the possibility that members of the regional assembly could reject the amendment. Section 35(9) and (10) set out what procedures follow from that. I invite the Minister of State to talk us through that. Obviously, if members of the assembly accept the proposed amendment, then it is agreed and life goes on. However, in an instance where elected members opt to reject the proposed amendment, will the Minister of State clarify exactly the role of the regulator and that of the Minister, and how this expedited procedure essentially enforces the recommendation of the regulator, as accepted by the Minister under section 35, into a plan over the heads of the elected members? That is the bit I am trying to understand.

Part of the reason for asking this is these are very significant changes. We are now getting into the overriding of democratically expressed wishes, even if, in this case, they are those of councillors who are directly appointed to the assembly. It is very important that the public record is very clear on what that procedure is and the rationale for it.