Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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If the amendment is not accepted it will mean that before elected members have any say or involvement in the development plan process, or in the section 51 pre-development plan process, the OPR will have a say. Council members are the people elected to represent local communities in local democracy. It is meant to be their development plan and they have this key responsibility. They will not have a say whereas the Office of the Planning Regulator will. This is highly problematic.

What we need in the Bill are provisions to ensure early engagement with communities. There is a body of evidence to show that when we have co-creation and we involve communities early in the planning process, we get much better results and much better outcomes for everybody. Instead, we are having early engagement with the Office of the Planning Regulator. This is a new role for the Office of the Planning Regulator. It is being given powers and a say over and above what the elected members have. This is deeply problematic. If the amendment were accepted, it would ameliorate it somewhat.