Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

Before the Senator takes the issue a step further I want to make a few brief comments. I accept what the Minister said but I want to record that I supported the strategic infrastructure legislation. The Minister said the power has been used rarely in the past few years for long, drawn out CPOs. I chaired a committee on the Constitution that examined the area of property rights and so on but we could have thousands of CPOs were it not for the fact that the Irish Farmers Association negotiated with the National Roads Authority — I am using this as an example — in regard to the building of a motorway or dual carriageway from here to Cork. There was also one being built to the west and one to Limerick. There would have been ructions, CPOs and legal wrangling if that were not the case. The IFA negotiated a good deal on behalf of the farmers but it is a different matter when it involves CPOs around port areas because different groups and rights are involved. I can see a major problem arising in the Bantry Bay area with inshore fishermen who have rights going back almost to the Magna Carta.

The continuous transfer of projects like this to the point of first adjudication, as the Minister called it, namely, An Bord Pleanála, is fundamentally wrong. I say that because numerous local authority and ministerial powers have now been handed over to An Bord Pleanála. I have an axe to grind with the Minister of State, particularly with regard to planning in rural Ireland. I am talking about cases where the local authority and the local engineers approved an application because an individual needs to live in a remote area with, say, his or her elderly aunt or uncle. I must differ with him on that because in most instances where the council granted planning permission, An Bord Pleanála rubbed all our noses in it and refused permission. Nine out of ten would be appropriate but that is rural Ireland. Sín scéal eile. It is a different day, but I have reservations on the matter.

We are handing over many powers to An Bord Pleanála. The Minister of State may not be in a position to respond to this point but with all the extra obligations and duties now being given to An Bord Pleanála, as the first adjudicators in issues like this, does it have the necessary powers and resources? The Minister says it has the expertise. Perhaps it does; I do not doubt that although I have my misgivings, but does it have the extra powers and resources to deal with this entire situation?

I agree in principle with the strategic infrastructure legislation. However, on the provision of the metro line from the centre of Dublin to Dublin Airport, for example, if we take that to its logical conclusion, approximately 20,000 householders will have to be consulted because under the law, technically speaking, one owns everything above and below one's house. We recommended that, under our Constitution, the State should control any area below ten metres, or 30 feet, and fast-track this project because it would not be possible to deal with every householder. There is much merit in the strategic infrastructure legislation but does An Bord Pleanála have the staffing levels to cope with all these additional powers because these issues take time? For example, an appeal in respect of an application for planning permission in a rural area in Kerry, west Cork, Mayo or Waterford currently takes four months to process. In many cases, the planning authorities — they have the right to do so — write to those making appeals and inform them that such appeals could take up to eight months.