Mr. Paul Hogan:

A number of issues were raised. Interpretation of legislation is the central issue regarding the duty of local authorities to implement their own development plan on the one hand and the role of the board as an appellant body on the other. The board is empowered by the Oireachtas to consider a wider range of issues that can arise. The development plan is fixed at a particular point in time. Legislation policy evolves and changes. There are wider considerations of national significance that can go beyond the local. For all these reasons the board has specific powers to address development plans differently after a process on particular occasions. That is what has happened with a number of particular cases, which we cannot go into. Generally, that applies.

On housing supply, this legislation coincides with an overall increase in housing supply nationally, rising by about 3,000 units per annum this year. There is no doubt that it has contributed.