Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's answer. I think it will improve alignment and consistency, as he has outlined. One of the issues that I frequently receive representations on is from constituents who are concerned about delays coming from An Bord Pleanála. As every person in this House will know, in the recent past decisions of the bord have been extremely delayed not just in respect of larger developments, but even in respect of smaller developments in the constituency. I have contacted by people who are concerned about that.

Obviously, what we need to seek to do in the Bill is to expedite the appeal process before An Bord Pleanála. The Minister of State may have seen the very disturbing documentary on RTÉ last Monday night, which showed how individuals can seek to undermine the integrity of the planning process by putting forward appeals which really are not legitimate. We saw that in the programme. I note that section 138 of the old 2000 Act, which is still in force, entitles the bord to strike out those appeals if it is thought they were made for the purpose of securing a payment of money or inducements. That is going to be contained in section 105 of the new Bill and I welcome that. Is there anything more that can be done to ensure that we do not have these frivolous and vexatious appeals being made to An Bord Pleanála?

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