Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not the Government of the day's plan; it is a long-term plan for this country that we want everybody to buy into. We genuinely wanted that. I was there at the start of it. We went to students and told them they should be involved as it is for 20, 30 and 40 years. That is what it is about. If we do not have launches and ask for engagement, we will not get that engagement. I hope we will get much more engagement at regional level and local level down the line. There will be difficult decisions at local level but I think this will help make the right decisions for the country, which is what we are trying to do.

I understand what the Senator is saying on the concept of the vote. The legislation recommended a vote on the draft, and the Government of the day would make changes and then make a final decision. As I said before, I am not convinced we would ever get to the end of any plan. If the Action Plan for Jobs was brought in and had to cleared at the final stage by both Houses of the Oireachtas, I am not sure that, six years on, we would be at only 6% unemployment. I genuinely believe that. At the end of the day, governments have to make a final decision. The draft legislation comes to the Houses, the changes are recommended and there is a process in place. We went through all that with the committee. Many of the changes that came through were actually recommended by the committees, and I attended both committees. If one goes back through all the speeches and recommendations, one will see this reflects the committee members' views. I believe we have honoured that.

I understand what the Senator is suggesting but we will end up amending and amending and we will still be here in two years time, and we will need a plan for 2045 at that stage. That is what happens and we have to face facts in that regard. The process has to come to an end and it is the Government's job to make a final decision after all of the consultation. That is what the legislation reflects. I have been involved in planning a long time and I believe this is the right way to do it. I have seen other national planning frameworks where, as a councillor, I had no say and, even as a Deputy, there was one occasion where I could not get my hands near the document. We have gone a long way to get this right. This legislation copperfastens the process to make sure it will always be done right, given there will be different Governments coming and going. This is to put a process in place which means national planning frameworks go through a certain process and are dealt with right, and everybody can be involved. To me, that is right and I believe it should be enough to put the Senator's mind at ease.