Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To be helpful on that, there are a number of Bills coming forward on planning, one of which is already before the House on Second Stage and concerns the establishment of a planning regulator. Another Bill will be brought to Cabinet next week with the purpose of streamlining planning decisions and putting statutory timelines around those decisions for larger planning applications. There will be a further planning Bill which is about a review of the overall planning system. That review process has already begun within my Department and it is considering a whole series of issues. We will have an opportunity to tease through a lot of these questions which are often linked with planning issues and frustration. My only objective is to maintain the integrity of planning decisions while at the same time providing for more streamlined decision-making so that we can get developments happening in the right place and in a more timely fashion. There will be numerous legislative initiatives which will provide Deputy Healy-Rae with the opportunity to tease through some of the issues he has.

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