Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the face of it, this is a good Bill and makes much sense. The McCarthy report of 2009 recommended that the two bodies be merged, chiefly because of the overlap of services. Anybody observing the operation of the two bodies could see it. There is overlap in the work of the two bodies in procurement and the PPPs, and merging their expertise will be a step in the right direction. The envisaged saving of €300 million is very important. I do not know whether the Minister has had time yet to consider how the €300 million might be spent. The maintenance of the regional and local roads needs constant monitoring because their funding has decreased by 9%. Looking back at the bad old days, when those roads deteriorated they caused many difficulties. Travelling through some of those back roads, I see potholes beginning to emerge. This was the story in the old days. While I am not saying it relates to the 9% reduction, it is worthwhile to investigate it because we do not want this to happen. Although I am not saying potholes are widespread, some of the potholes I encountered were dangerous and deep. If there is any way of directing some of the €300 million towards that, it would be a step in the right direction.

The principle behind the merger makes much sense. Going back a long time before the last election, and arising from the McCarthy report, quangos were examined. Although many of them may have done good work in their time, much of their work became redundant. Often, those who have ownership of a quango do not want to let go of it. In the economic situation of the time, it was very difficult to make an argument that because they were in a position to do a particular job for a certain period of time they should be left there. We started to look in the right direction of how to maintain the quality of service while at the same time reducing the number of quangos, largely through mergers, and it seems to have worked out very well.

The Minister would be more up to speed regarding what has happened with staff as a result of some of the mergers over time, and it is a consideration in this merger. The Labour Relations Commission will be contacted about it. I suggest we keep our eye on the area. We must be careful with people's jobs but at the same time we must have value for money. Given that we have not yet christened the new body, it will be an important occasion. It will be good if it happens with a minimum of staff disruption. Generally, it is possible through voluntary redundancy and otherwise to achieve such a merger, and I am sure the Minister is on top of this. It should not be put on the long finger but should be part of what we are doing.

It makes great sense that the NRA are to have pre-planning discussions with An Bord Pleanála. I discussed this with somebody recently.Every applicant for planning permission should have the opportunity to engage in a more focused preplanning discussion with the planning authorities. Many people applied over the years to build one-off houses on family land. If the planning authorities were more open to discussion with a prospective applicant before the application had been made, many of the difficulties that arose subsequently could have been obviated at the time. I do not accept the argument that such an approach would diminish or dilute the planning structure. There may be cases where we have to be a little careful but if we want to focus on proper roads development, we should not wait until the application is submitted and goes through a process of appraisal and so on. If much of that work is done beforehand with An Bord Pleanála, it should be possible to submit an application which takes account of what the board requires. It would present a good opportunity to expedite planning permission.

Some Bills that come before us should have no political nuance whatsoever and this is one. Legislation should be introduced in the House more often on which we should not necessarily have to divide on political grounds. The public does not appreciate it when that happens and they will not forgive us too easily if we waste time on political posturing. That is why this is a good Bill and I am sure it will work well. If it saves €300 million, it is to be hoped the regional and local roads structure will be examined.

While planning is not covered by the legislation, perhaps the Minister will examine the possibility of legislating for a preplanning period because that would create more confidence in the planning structure. There is nothing worse than a person who has been refused planning permission saying it was granted for a house 100 yards away. Terrible planning applications have been granted in towns, and monstrosities stand out in them. Every time people pass them, they comment on how planning permission was ever granted for them. I wish the Minister well with the legislation.