Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. Before the debate adjourned yesterday evening, I spoke on councillors' declarations and conflicts of interests. The Minister said firm directives are in place with which local authority members must comply. It will be interesting if there is any shortfall in the upcoming High Court case of De Búrca v. Whittle on planning matters in County Wicklow. I read a report in this morning's newspapers regarding my hometown. However, I am too close to it to get involved in a debate on it.

All Members know of councillors who took part in debates on planning issues when they had some interests, obvious or not. I will take the Minister's word that good guidelines are in place. Senator Norris referred to practices of the past. I believe 99.9% of councillors are good and law-abiding citizens with the best interests of their communities at heart. It will happen in any walk of life that there is the odd black sheep.

Ongoing staffing problems exist in local authorities. In various areas, councillors have informed me of large turnovers in people. That is not conducive to good planning decisions. It leads to the last minute invitations for new information for which the clock must start running again. I am glad that spending of €43 billion is planned for infrastructure projects over the next five years, another reason why the Fine Gael Party supports the Bill.

The proposed board will decide what is of strategic importance within the criteria laid down in the Bill. All the right infrastructural projects are included, namely, railways, both heavy and light, major electricity transmission lines, gas pipelines, airports, harbours and ports, waste management facilities and water and wastewater facilities. Incinerators are also included but I read that one specific incinerator is to be excluded. The Bill will rightly not cover shopping centres or office block developments. The main idea behind the provision is that it is seen to be a fair, open and transparent process. The Fine Gael Party agrees with the need for more certainty and better timeframes.

The Minister referred to badly prepared applications and environmental impact statements. The Bill provides for discussions in advance with the strategic infrastructure division of An Bord Pleanála to ensure applications are put together properly. The board must be careful that it simply gives guidance and nothing improper.

I welcome the Minister's comments on judicial reviews, the commercial court and the allocation of specialist judges. I also welcome the recent appointment of Kevin Feeney to the High Court. The Minister spoke about the initiatives being taken in the High Court. The President of the High Court has said that new initiatives will be put in place and there will be significant timesavings between the work of the High Court and what the Minister has in mind.

The need to avoid excessive and vexatious delays to major infrastructure developments is important. Members are aware of people who have objected to projects and delays for the sake of it. I recall one important planning appeal where An Bord Pleanála described it as without foundation or substance. The process will be speeded up and the board will not have to go to so much trouble in dealing with appeals.

On major road projects, two of the worst roads are in the Minister of State's county. The Cork-Killarney road between Macroom and Ballymakeera is the worst national primary road in the State. I vote the Mallow-Mitchelstown road, the worst national secondary road. Hopefully, these roads will be improved.

There is a strong intake in planning appeals. I welcome the provision for ten additional staff members in the appeals process but back-up staff will be necessary. However, I am sure the Minister will keep that aspect under review.

I also welcome section 9, which deals with rogue developers. Unfortunately I do not have enough time to go into the section in detail.