Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not. The regulator has been appointed. I am trying to address some of the issues and recommendations from the tribunal, which cost so much. If we knew the price per word, it would be some amount. It is farcical. We are still not grappling with the issues. We are trying to deal with the housing crisis and fast-track legislation on Committee Stage to allow developments of 100 houses or more to bypass local authorities. The relationship between members of local authorities and the planners is a very important and noble one, and we are celebrating it this year. I was a member of a local authority for many years before being privileged to be elected to this House. Local authorities cannot have any say or have any interaction with planners in Tipperary. While there are some very good local planners, with whom I deal, senior management at Tipperary County Council does not want anything to do with public representatives.

I have no problem with the idea that any correspondence or lobbying - whether by phone, text or e-mail or by meeting a planner at a match - about planning of any make, shape or form should be recorded and kept on file. It must happen. We cannot have the nod and the wink but we must be able to interact. I have said this to the Minister at committee meetings. Councillors in Tipperary and Oireachtas Members - I am speaking for myself - have less and less interaction. If a constituent asked a representative to keep an eye on a file in the past, we could put our name on the file and we were notified if further information was going to be requested. If the applicant was abroad, we could alert them. In the context of what is proposed, we will not be notified anymore. That is a bit of a nuisance. Is it so hard to send an e-mail, or press a button to add two or three more people to an e-mail? Neither will councillors be notified, and there are 40 of them in Tipperary.

We always used to have site meetings with planners. If a person wanted to build one house - which is very important to themselves - or a number of houses or a business development, we would have facilitated it. This has also stopped. A planner cannot meet a public representative and an applicant on site together. You would think there was going to be fisticuffs or something and that it is a health and safety issue. It is pure nonsense. We sorted out many issues where neighbours might not have been the best of friends. One looked at the site holistically, if it was a farm for rural development, and the site was not the best site, and the planners attempted to come to an agreement, one helped to persuade the planner to get a better site, a different location and land holding. The Minister of State would understand this, given that she is from a rural constituency. For example, if there was an issue with site distances for the entrance, one could negotiate with the neighbour to realign the roads for everybody's safety, never mind the house. A lot of good will was earned as a result. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle and many of us have stood in fields, on roads and boreens and God knows where else, played our part and done our public duty. We are elected by these people to help them, to try to advise them properly and to ensure that they do not find themselves in dangerous or other kinds of situations.

I recently dealt with a case in Tipperary. The Ceann Comhairle might say I am straying, but it is all to do with the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill.

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