Mr. Paul Hogan:

On bicycle parking, there is good guidance on parking bicycles from the National Transport Authority and this is being incorporated into the development plans as they are being reviewed. The apartment guidelines were recently reviewed, and provide more generous off-street parking standards for bicycles within the buildings, even in cases where car parking is now optional or is not necessary depending on location, in recognition that apartments are more likely to be built in areas where the inhabitants use bicycles. We are also due to update the national development plan guidelines. Certainly we would be seeking to incorporate the latest best practice thinking from the NTA, which is quite expert on these matters. This now goes beyond residential or workplace standards, and looks at city and town centres where people might park their bicycles.

The second point was the reuse of building stock and compact growth, the biggest gains probably are to be made in former industrial estates closer to the city, where people can cycle or take public transport or have the Luas near them. By modest increases in density, as Mr. McCarthy has said, we can achieve quite significant changes. It is trickier, as we know from our former discussions and deliberations in the suburban areas, where there is an established character and existing residents are quite concerned about change, but an incremental element of change is okay.

I think the issue the Deputy and I discussed previously - at the county development plan stage - was whether it was acceptable to change the proportion of an area based on subdivision. We were not necessarily talking about granny flats - we were talking about subdivision generally, as is found in other cities. It think it merits further examination, particularly where there are large gardens and where cars are not a necessity in all cases. It depends on location. More work is required on it. We would be better placed to look at it in our role in the Department.

The issue of sunlight in the context of high-rise developments is a more complex one. To a certain extent, different forces are at play in such locations. The designated areas in a city are of interest. In the main, this is considered from a commercial perspective, as opposed to a residential perspective. I think there was a degree of uncertainty about building heights because of local development plan standards. One of the benefits of the imminent publication of the Department's height guidance will be that a degree of certainty or flexibility will be offered depending on what is required. This guidance will provide for decisions to be made in the future.