Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is correct, we will take two minutes each. I agree with the Minister that it is urgent for this Bill to be passed without delay, and I welcome the motion for early signature. Construction and planning were areas which took a major hit during the pandemic and this Bill will help to address the disruption and delays that Covid-19 has caused to the completion of housing projects and on the complexity of local authority development plans. Agreeing a development plan is an essential process for every local authority. However, the impact of Covid-19 has made complex processes even more complex. We must acknowledge the huge efforts that local authorities and county councillors have made in the past year. They have worked tirelessly on behalf of local businesses, communities and residents to ensure that their best interests were represented throughout this pandemic and I fully support a move to allow them flexibility in the development plan process.

Last week, councillors on South Dublin County Council completed weeks of lengthy development plan meetings and discussed more then 700 motions. Meetings ran from 3.30 p.m. until midnight on some occasions. While those circumstances would have been tough even in the normal life situation of a pre-Covid-19 world, holding these meetings remotely online now, especially when such big decisions are being made, is hugely challenging. Communication is more difficult and there is less clarity. On some occasions, councillors, particularly those who have not sat through discussions of development plans before, were voting to support a given motion without it having being made clear to them that were the motion to be successful, it would mean other related motions would automatically fall. Making such important decisions online is a major expectation, especially when we consider that Members of this House all come into this Chamber to cast our votes. Online meetings for such decisions place a great level of responsibility and additional pressures on councillors.

On my local council, almost half of county councillors have never sat through discussions concerning a development plan. Extending the time for drafting development plans to allow councillors the breathing space and to not rush these major decisions during social restrictions is reasonable, practical and in the interests of democracy.

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