Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's response. It has taken quite some time to get to this stage. When he says "shortly", are we looking at the next month or two? We all have different definitions of "shortly", but this has gone on for quite some time. My understanding is that the working group concluded its deliberations in September 2017, so I do not think we can make a call as to whether there would be a requirement for public consultation until we can actually see the revisions. I agree with him that the best place for them to go to first would be the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government to assess them. I cannot understand why it has taken so long. I know quite a degree of work has gone into it and that we have had to liaise with the Commission and others on this, but could the Minister of State be more specific as to when the Government intends to publish them? Will he give a commitment that they will be brought to the committee in advance of making any decision as to whether or not public consultation will be required?

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