Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. We have all gone through the Bill as a committee and I make the point that it is critical to have public engagement in planning. I am a firm believer in that.

This Bill replaces the requirement on city and county council executives to hold public meetings about proposed city and county development plans. The obligation is then on the planning authority to consult members of the public and invite written submissions from them on the proposed development plan.

I welcome the Government's proposed amendment to this. It is vital that we provide for additional public participation, where required, in exceptional circumstances such as these trying times. We all know we are finding living with Covid overwhelming with the life changes we have had to accept. It is obvious we need this legislation to deal with it but I cannot accept how the virus is sometimes used as an excuse to keep out the public. It has been my experience that engagement with people has been left behind while we are trying to adhere to public health guidelines.

It is important that the public feels it can be part of this process. The main aim of public participation is to encourage the public to have meaningful input into the decision-making process, and this is very important when it comes to planning. Public participation provides the local community with an opportunity for communication between agencies making decisions that will affect the public. This will have a great impact on people's lives, which is why it is so important. I was a councillor for years and I know how important this process is. We must ensure we give full access to the public when it comes to the planning process.

I have seen at first hand how delays come about when people have appointments cancelled. People like to be able to go into a planner, sit down and go through a plan. They can discuss the timescale and the number of people who are not sure about dates for an application is amazing. This is all about communication with the public.

We must ensure that even in a pandemic we give access to the public so people can be part of the process. Giving the public a say is not a negative and contributions should not be seen as negative. People can be so positive and observations can be really good when they engage in the process. They can play a big part. We need not see this as a negative process. There are many positive people who would make really good contributions. That is so important.

I know we cannot do all we used to do, but if we can sit in this House and listen to each other, towns and villages around Ireland should have a place where experts and planners can sit and listen to the voices of the people. That is very important. This is a significant matter and we must get clarity on how we will operate in future.

I agree with some of the comments made about online forums. I have a big fear that going forward we will be disenfranchising a large section of the public that is not online. Perhaps people cannot read or write. People may need to go to meetings in order to engage with the process and I feel so strongly about this at housing meetings.

There is also the question of the residential tenancies legislation and evictions. It is important that we see no evictions at any time but in particular during Covid-19 when it is so hard to find somewhere to rent. What is the understanding with county councils and evictions during Covid-19? It was brought to my attention the other day and it is important for us to consider communication in these matters. We must know that the public is aware of what is happening. These have been horrific times for everybody but I compliment all the 31 local authorities, including staff such as planners. They have done their best in challenging times to try to do what they could to help people with housing and planning.

We all know the county development plans are being done as we speak but they have been delayed. That process is now going until the middle of next year. We do not know what way Covid-19 will affect it but we must be mindful of what is happening. Our local authorities play a significant part in people's lives so it is important for us to appreciate the work they do.

Staffing is also a major concern. I always talk about Carlow but all the staff in the local authority work so hard. Understaffing can be a problem in local authorities. We should examine it.

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