Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)

That is just an observation I want to put on the record so the public have an idea about it.

Mr. Mullan referred to LDRs and the statutory timeline for them. He also mentioned the statutory obligations under Part 4 of the planning Act and said the commission was working to meet them. My conclusion at this stage is that, where there are statutory timelines for the legislation, they are met and where there are no statutory timelines, they are not met to the same extent. He referred to significant delays. He might come back to me on that. Perhaps everything going to An Coimisiún Pleanála should have a statutory timeline. I will give all the questions in one go. Mr. Mullan also mentioned judicial reviews. He might tell us how many of them are in the system and how long they take. I would welcome a quick observation on that.

Why was it decided to change the name of An Bord Pleanála to An Coimisiún Pleanála, and who did it? Was it agreed at the beginning that €77,000 would be spent on the name change? Mr. Mullan concentrated a lot in his opening remarks on reputational damage in the past. Things happen in every organisation. I am not excusing what happens as long as they are properly dealt with, but it does mean an organisation has to change its name. I hope it is not an attempt to try to leave the past behind us. Mr. Mullan might give us the reasons for that.

I have two short questions for Mr. Cussen. He mentioned that the interests of the public and the common good were at the centre of all statutory functions. Rather than discussing it now, could he send us a good information note on what he means by "the common good"? What are his guidelines? They are central and need more weight than they have at the moment.

One person can object because they do not like the colour of the paint on the window or something like that. We know what we are talking about. Mr. Mullan referred to the common good. Will he flesh that out? It is relevant to this committee. He also referred to parameters, such as population growth, housing needs and investment in terms of water services, transport, schools and amenities. He did not highlight employment. None of us could exist if we did not go out to work and paid our way. That seemed to be missing in his opening statement. Perhaps the reason it is missing is a Government issue or maybe it is down to Mr. Mullan’s observations.

In relation to the county and city development plans, can he provide a county-by-county breakdown of the development plans, including when they were initiated and when they will expire? Are there many of them currently help up in the system and they are relying on an old plan? I ask Mr. Mullan to send us correspondence on that. This gets said to me and I do not know whether it is true or false.