Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

Picking up on the points made by Senator Brian Hayes and Senator Ó Murchú, everyone here salutes the fine work carried out at St. Andrew's. We all agree there should be a debate on this issue. Perhaps it can be decided shortly when would be the most suitable time to hold such a debate? I believe it would be acceptable to all. We all believe the difficulty is only a glitch and I do not believe anyone here will do any damage in any contribution he or she might make. We are proactive and completely supportive of the restoration of the executive in the North.

The Acting Leader and Members will have noted that the chairman of An Bord Pleanála has stated that he would favour local authorities making provision for high-rise developments in their local area plans. He wishes to see clearer policies at local authority level that would give indications as to where high-rise developments would or would not be acceptable. Will they be confined to cities and certain areas of cities? Clearly, this is a very divisive issue, as Members will appreciate.

In view of its importance, could the Acting Leader tell the House whether the Government envisages, through the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and his Department, drawing up a blueprint or strict guidelines in respect of this issue, which I believe are necessary? We have already witnessed the lack of uniformity in so many planning matters between different local authorities throughout the country. Certain guidelines have been produced but in the absence of a directive, many of them are not proving to be very effective. We have witnessed how planning applications have been invalidated differently throughout the country and through different local authority areas. Given the importance of this issue and the considerable value involved——