John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I must agree with the bulk of what Deputy Tuffy stated. Of course we require responsible planning. I listened carefully to what the chairman of An Bord Pleanála stated. He was simply echoing what I have stated. The planners in local authorities are getting clear directions, namely, that at this stage it makes no sense to build on flood plains.

As Deputy Tuffy will probably be aware, as Minister I can intervene — I do so reluctantly — when what I might call "mis-zoning" takes place, and there have been examples of that.

It is clear that the planners at local level would be remiss if they recommended building on a flood plain. At this stage I do not think that anyone would do that.

Where the difficulty arises is that there may be irresponsible councillors who decide, for whatever reason, to proceed in this fashion and build on a flood plain. All of the evidence, from the EPA and others, suggests this is foolhardy. Indeed, Deputy Tuffy pointed out that in some cases in parts of the country there has been a 20% increase in precipitation and the risk of flooding has increased. Furthermore, as we build more, one finds that the hard surfaces mean there is less drainage and there is an increased danger of flooding. For all of these reasons in my meetings with local authority members we have stated that this is not the way to go.

Of course I can issue directives and I will be issuing planning directives. In fact, before Christmas I will issue new density guidelines which will take account of flooding risk.

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