Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I can understand where the Deputies are coming from, but I will not be accepting the amendment and I will try to explain why. I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett that we cannot fail this time and we need to learn from the mistakes of the past. That is why we need to refocus our resources and our attention on urban regeneration, where the need is and where services are available. We are introducing legislative changes, including those in this Bill, to reform the planning sector for the better, so that we do not have urban sprawl and unsustainable development of greenfield sites. We are developing new planning legislation for the autumn so that we have a proper alignment of planning policies, from local to regional to national. We will be introducing a planning regulator and a lot of things to streamline the process and ensure we have sustainable planning in the future, so that we do not go back to the problems of the past.

In addition, and for the first time, the Housing Agency is conducting detailed research and analysis to inform public policy. We are not letting it happen ad hoc as happened in the past. We are utilising real data, demographics, populations, where the demand is to inform us as to where infrastructure should be prioritised in order that we do not fail as in the past. Many things are being done on those fronts.

Returning to Part V and the need for review, I agree those provisions should be kept under constant review. However, I do not believe there is a need for a sunset clause defined in the legislation. The amendments to Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, being introduced by the Bill, represent concrete Government action to implement the changes required on foot of the published findings of a comprehensive review that has already taken place involving an extensive public consultation process on the operation of Part V. We have already had a detailed review initiated by this Government, undertaken by the Housing Agency and informed by public consultation, which Deputies should welcome. I will not rule out similar reviews being conducted in the future. The points made by Deputies are well made. If further reviews are required they will take place. I wish to inform Deputies that my Department routinely collects, monitors and publishes data provided by local authorities in connection with Part V and will continue to review and evaluate its success and, if necessary, we can come back for further debate. However, it is not considered necessary at this stage to introduce a sunset clause to the legislation and, therefore, the amendment is not being accepted.