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

It is a bit more than clarification. At this stage, I will indicate that there are a couple of sections coming up next on which a small amount of discussion would be useful. I say that because we are now getting into Chapter 6, which deals with the urban area plans, priority area plans and co-ordinated area plans. These are very important innovations of the Bill. They got far less scrutiny during pre-legislative scrutiny. I do think there is a value, without extending the conversation for too long, in providing the Minister of State with an opportunity to answer some questions on these and talk through how they will work.

Specifically with respect to section 68, while it is not the same as a local area plan, it replaces a local area plan, LAP, in some sense. Local area plans have been the previous mechanism for plan-making. I would like the Minister of State, in summary form, to first give us a sense of what is new, additional or innovative in the urban area plan versus the old LAP. Somebody, such as a member of the public, might have been involved in an LAP. What are they getting that they did not have before? This is one of the sections of the Bill the Government would say shows a renewed focus on plan-making, making it more forward planning-led, etc. I invite the Minister of State to justify that a little bit and to give us a sense, specifically with respect to urban area plans, of how this gives us something of added value to what is already available under the existing Act.