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

Three questions arise. First, why is the general provision being introduced? My sense of the most recent round of county development plans is that the role of the planning regulator has been broadly positive. Not all Members of the House agree, but that is certainly my view. One of the aims of the regulator was to achieve consistency between central government planning policy and development plans. In the context of residential developments, including large-scale residential developments, it has been very successful. This is one of the primary reasons the number of judicial reviews of large-scale residential developments has declined significantly by comparison with the number sought previously under the section 28 strategic housing development regime. Therefore, it seems the proposed mechanism is trying to fix a problem that does not exist, certainly with respect to residential development. The key proposition is not that elected members are not adequately consulted at other stages of the development plan process. The Minister of State read out a relevant section that outlines they are, and we are all pretty familiar with that. The specific purpose of the amendment is to give elected members some consultative role with respect to the very particular engagement between the chief executive and the OPR before the development plan process begins. I see no reason the planning regulator should be involved at that stage, but if so, as per the legislation, we need to see elected representatives involved. What is wrong with giving elected members a consultative role in addition to prescribed bodies regarding the interaction between the chief executive and OPR prior to the commencement of the development plan process? Why is the OPR even involved at that stage, given that the way the OPR reviews development plans under existing legislation broadly works and is not in need of change?