Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, all planning decisions should be made in the interests of proper planning, sustainable development and the common good, so my amendment is not that any planning application would be granted just because it is in the furtherance of climate objectives, but it would have to meet the high bar that we are going to set in this Bill for sustainability, common good and climate objectives. It is not that a planning application would be automatically granted on the material contravention of a plan. It is just something that needs to be considered, especially where the objectives of a development plan may conflict with what is proper planning and sustainable development in the furtherance of the common good. It is not that people would get it straightaway. All the other considerations of the planning application would have to be taken into account both by the planning authority and the commission.