Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for this response, which has been helpful in clarifying the position. However, I am disappointed there is not a proposal in this respect. We should be addressing this issue but the Department is not considering such guidelines. We are working in a vacuum. These applications for planning permission are coming in off the back of a subsidy that will be introduced in 2017. The applicants are speculating on questions of when and how and what the rate will be. That is the reason such a vast number of applications are coming through. The figure of 20,000 acres being currently tied up in contracts is a significant one. Because of the speculation in the market, such guidelines are needed now more than ever before. The planning decisions are literally one-off decisions, in that what happens in County Cork might not happen in County Kerry or in County Limerick. We need to re-examine this issue because of the speculation in the market.

Some of the planning granted will have conditions attached with respect to funds from which the community will benefit while others will not have such conditions attached. We need to examine these guidelines to ensure that communities across the board can benefit from having such a development in their localities.