Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister, although I have mixed views about his proposal. Like everybody else, I would like to believe what he said, but the reality may be different. The majority of Senators come from local authority backgrounds and have great experience of studying county development plans. The more one studies them, the more frustrating they become. One has to ask how it all went wrong in the first place.

The problem originated with the Planning and Development Act 2000. I am delighted the Minister is making a U-turn on that Act. Will the Minister explain what the term "sustainable development" means in the context of that legislation? Planners give several different interpretations of sustainable development.