Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Go raibh maith agat. Deputy Ó Caoláin raised a valid point. The Order of Business is as I outlined, but an amendment to it will be brought to the floor of the House later today to facilitate the approval of the publication of the text of a Bill to provide for the amendment of section 217 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to provide for the extension of the period of validity of CPOs and to approve the moving of a motion in the Seanad providing for the early signature of the Bill by the President. This relates to enabling the extension of process regarding CPOs. It does not in any way affect how they will be handled. It is a technical issue that needs to be addressed today. Were it to be left until next week, CPO procedures would lapse and people would have to start ab initio in regard to important projects. We just want to make that point.

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