Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

There must be clear information on how the regional authorities will draft the planning guidelines. The Minister of State said there would be consultation with the various local authorities. My concern is that regional authorities do not have dedicated planning departments. Usually, a member of a planning authority is seconded to the regional authority to co-ordinate the guidelines. Obviously, the regional authorities depend a great deal on the various counties for their submissions and proposals. My fear about the compilation of the regional planning guidelines - this is not a slight on executives, managers or planners - is that while I foresee that there will be consultation with the executives and planning departments of each local authority which will give the regional authorities their views, where will the democratic engagement occur? Where do the councillors, other than those on the regional authority, have a direct say in the compilation by the regional authority? Where does the general public have a say, similar to the input it has in the formulation of a county, city or local area development plan?

That is the reason I posed the question about regional authority members. They are the people who will be required to adopt the regional planning guidelines. Under the current system, they are essentially a delegation representing the views of their local authority on the regional authority. They do not have the entire region as their focus. If this is what the Minister of State wants, should there not be proper regional structures with proper accountability, departments, resources and empowerment? The Bill proposes to give regional authorities considerable power but few resources. Their elected members should be directly elected and be accountable to their regions for any decisions they make.

Clarity on how regional authorities will function in the development of plans would provide a reassurance that is currently lacking, namely, that there is full democratic accountability in the formulation of regional plans. I would be interested in hearing the Minister of State's views in this regard.