Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister for this debate. I quickly perused his opening address on the Bill and there was much to which I could subscribe. I especially liked his opening comment that planning is about people not buildings. The Minister continued to outline what was important in the following paragraphs, namely, schools, public transport and shops being provided in properly planned, convenient places.

We have seen in many parts of the country that planning has been developer led rather than planning led. Sadly, in a number of towns we have witnessed sprawling growth on one side or another. An even distribution never seems to have been achieved. That is due to developers and land owners petitioning and lobbying hard for councillors to rezone. I did not agree with that approach. I fought against it as a member of two local authorities.

Senator Buttimer alleged at the end of his contribution that the Minister said something about members of my party taking inducements. In the same way as Senator Buttimer, I never took any such inducement.