Mr. Craig McLaren:

I will add to Mr. Lawlor's point about monitoring. One of our issues with the Bill is that there is no clear route map. There is also no clear idea of what we are trying to achieve with this. It is just a series of statements. What is the Bill's ambition and how can we apply the metrics to that?

We spoke in our opening statement about taking a more outcomes-based approach to planning. We have conducted research in this regard and piloted the approach in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. There are some merits in this. As Mr. Lawlor mentioned, if we get a good digital planning system with good spatial data, we can agree what the metrics are and monitor progress on an ongoing basis. This would tell us not just how the legislation was working, but what impact it was having on the ground. Often, success is measured by how quickly a planning application is processed or how many housing units are built. While those are important, we need to move beyond them and monitor the impacts, what areas and buildings are being developed, how we are working towards or against climate change, and how we are working towards net zero. We need to bring these matters into the debate as well and use them as metrics to ensure we are showing what progress is being made through legislation and everything that flows from it.