Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have one question on this. I share the concerns about these sections of the Bill. The Bill places a huge amount of power in the hands of the Minister and creates, in terms of the Office of the Planning Regulator, a range of additional inputs. From national planning statements being issued to the role of the Office of the Planning Regulator, the role of elected members is being massively reduced while the role and powers of the Minister and the Office of the Planning Regulator are being massively increased. My question on that and subsidiarity is whether any analysis of that has been done. Is there any evidence base behind doing this? My overall concern is that when we concentrate a lot of power in the hands of a small number of individuals, whether it is the planning process or anything else, sooner or later that tends to go wrong. Is there any evidence base informing the changes in section 65? Where is it coming from?