Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and I thank Senator Norris. He has always had a passion for the city and we know what he has in North Great George's Street. There is a lot in this motion about Georgian Dublin and the Living City initiative, about Dublin's transport system, housing development and environmental issues. We could take each one on its own and have a full debate about what should be done. The Senator says he feels imprisoned in his house but I congratulate him on what he has done in the area of preservation. I live on the south side but I would not mind swapping for North Great George's Street any day.

There is a need for the Government to produce a master plan and we must have an overarching vision for the city and region. In Dublin City Council and all councils in the past much of the planning was developer-led, rather than planning-led. That should not have happened but it did. We fought against a lot of it but some of it was not fought against and that is where planning went wrong. There has been a sea change in planning since this Government came to power.

The chapter on the Dublin city development plan and on shaping the city is very good. It is only a new plan and the consultation process has just finished. It discusses urban form, density, height as part of the shape of the city, the connected city, urban design and, most important, the type of architecture and the preservation of architecture. We fell down on preservation, big time, in years gone by.