Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The reform, the upgrading and the modernisation of our planning laws is probably the number one piece of Government legislation. It is, because it affects every aspect of our society. I will make a couple points on that. First, it is very complicated because the new Bill is 700 pages. The Deputy will be on the committee the Bill goes to, or rather he will not as it will go to Steven Matthews's committee rather than Brian Leddin's. I believe there are some 1,000 amendments. That will involve a great deal of work from the committee.

The first principle is that we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The independent Bord Pleanála-based planning system is the right approach. These are not easy decisions and you have to made sure you adhere to the Aarhus Convention, have open public consultation, engagement, recourse to legal challenge, and so on. It is not like it will be a wholesale change of everything. It is refining and fine-tuning, in the interests of everyone, so that it is less expensive with fewer lengthy delays, and it is clearer legally and administratively to operate. We need to do that and to have that legislation introduced in the coming months.

It is starting to work. We are starting see planning decisions, especially for our semi-State companies. For example, Oweninny wind farm in Mayo, which is near the first wind farm we had, in Bellacorick, is now in operation. I expect Bord na Móna, Coillte and others to be able to continue on that path. We are starting to see planning applications coming through but we need that legal reform. It is not a question of throwing the baby out with the bathwater but of making it quicker and more effective.

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