Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Ross in calling for a debate on planning, a subject I have consistently raised in this House for five years. It is a significant issue and on which we have not made progress. We have had rural planning guidelines and although the Minister's intention was certainly to help the process, my experience in listening to people in a number of different counties is that the different guidelines have been used only to beat people as opposed to facilitating them.

The idea of facilitating the views of cattle or sheep is laughable but it is testament to how ridiculous the planning system is. It is the single most subjective process in this country and is grossly unfair.