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

Many points have been raised this evening and while I will not stray into all of them, this is not to diminish the points that are probably more appropriate to another debate on rural regeneration, development and planning, and the town and village centre first concept. I will be happy to engage with Deputies on it. There is a strong and robust plan for that in the programme for Government. We believe in rural regeneration, there is no question about that. For the information of the House, I am undertaking a review of the rural planning guidelines. Deputies, be they from Limerick or Louth, will be aware that the written statements on rural housing policies that are adopted in local authority development plans are a matter for the councils and the councillors themselves by way of a reserve function. That is also important because each area is different and has unique characteristics, whether social or geographic. I am also carrying out a quite detailed review of Gaeltacht planning. I have engaged with Conradh na Gaeilge and others and we are moving quite quickly. I am happy that we would have a specific discussion on this early in the new year that is not based around legislation. That would be useful. In not addressing points which Members have made, whether it is about pitch and putt clubs in Johnstown or Karl Marx and forests, it does not mean that I am diminishing those contributions or that there is not merit in some of the points raised; it is just that I am going to try to stick to the relevant amendments which were put down.

The idea that elements of the Bill are about alienating people is a pretty far leap. We need to understand what we are talking about here. We are not talking about banning public meetings or anything like that, we are looking at the pre-draft stage of the development plan. At that specific area, zonings are not discussed and submissions on zonings cannot be made under an amendment to the planning legislation made in 2010. They are strategic meetings.

I will discuss the amendments themselves, which Deputies have gone to the bother of preparing and putting forward. I refer to amendment No. 5, as tabled by Deputies Mattie McGrath, Nolan, O'Donoghue, Danny Healy-Rae, Michael Healy-Rae and Michael Collins, amendment No. 6 tabled by Deputies Cian O'Callaghan and Ó Broin and No. 7 tabled by Deputy Ó Ríordáin on behalf of the Labour Party. Each seeks by various means to instigate that a mandatory meeting be held at the earliest stage of the preparation of the development plan by the planning authority except in a prescribed emergency period such as that necessitated by the present pandemic. Amendment No. 7 proposed that such provisions only apply during the emergency period. While I understand the intention behind the proposed changes, I will not accept the amendments, as some Members predicted. What I will do, however, is keep it under advisement. I believe we are taking the right approach. If I am proven wrong, I have no problem reverting. I heard the impassioned contributions of Deputies Mattie McGrath and Boyd Barrett. At least something to come out of this evening is that Deputies McGrath and Boyd Barrett are ad idem, so it has not been a completely wasted exercise. Maybe the Christmas spirit has arrived early.

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