Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I accept the technical explanation but would just make one point. I ask the Minister to examine the principle behind this amendment and to discuss it with the Minister for justice and also, in the course of his work as Minister for housing, with the relevant members of the Judiciary. We need to fix this bit of the system too. There is little value in having statutory timelines for decisions of the board, for example, if things then get judicially reviewed and are stuck in the courts for two or three years. I know that the Minister agrees with me on that. I accept that it is not primarily his responsibility but ultimately, the planning aspects of this are his and ours as a committee.. Therefore, while I accept that the Minister is not accepting the amendment, it is a proposal worthy of some consideration by the Government. All I ask the Minister to do is look at it. His personal opinions on this issue do matter, not necessarily for this amendment but in terms of the reforms that he decides to pursue as the Minister with responsibility, ultimately, for planning.

There are very considerable parts of the Planning and Development Act 2024 and the debates we had on it that specifically looked at reforms of the judicial review process but without this, many of those reforms will not result in any time savings or improved delivery times for much-needed infrastructure, including renewable energy or residential developments. It is a proposal that I urge the Minister to at least examine, if not in this context then in some other context.

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