Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know the Deputy has raised this issue on several occasions. To conclude, there were four occasions where the Minister had decided not to include all of the recommendations made by the office, and they were in regard to Kerry, Cork, Westmeath and Laois. For each of the four, the Minister has prepared and submitted a statement of reason to both Houses of the Oireachtas as to why he had not agreed with the recommendations of the OPR. As the Deputy said, seven development plans are still undergoing the review process and will remain subject to evaluation and assessment by the OPR.

It is worth remembering that the Office of the Planning Regulator was formally established in April 2019 on foot of recommendations made by the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments – the Mahon tribunal. The appointment of an independent planning regulator empowered to oversee the planning system in Ireland was one of the key recommendations of the tribunal. Since its establishment, the OPR has been a key part of our national and regional planning infrastructure. It has a valuable role in ensuring that the process and formulation of city and county development plans are consistent with national planning policies. The Office of the Planning Regulator is an independent body tasked with ensuring that local authorities’ plans are consistent with relevant national and regional planning policy objectives.

The Minister is empowered to direct a planning authority to take specified measures in regard to a development plan further to a recommendation of the OPR. In the case where the Minister does not agree with the recommendation of the OPR, he must prepare a statement of reasons and that is what he has done on four occasions when he has not agreed in regard to some of the recommendations from the OPR.

I will certainly pass on the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. As I said, I know he has raised this several times before.

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