Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pass on my condolences to the families of Ana Kriegel and Jastine Valdez. As a former councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, I am familiar with Rathmichael and Cherrywood, as I have driven through them regularly. These were awful tragedies for both families, particularly the abduction in Enniskerry where someone was walking along a road and had this happen to her. I extend my sympathies to her family.

I wish to raise the planning process. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government is busy on the housing and local government fronts but the planning process is antiquated and is not delivering for those who make planning applications or those who have issues with those who apply. Recently, other Members have raised the Apple issue in Athenry, County Galway, and how we build critical infrastructure. We must also accommodate the housing needs of everybody in the State and those who feel under siege in their communities from what is going on. It is a long-winded, convoluted and expensive process and it is of a different time.

I do not blame anybody working in a planning department. They are doing their best 99.9% of the time, if not all the time, under outdated and inappropriate legislation in many cases. It would be helpful to invite the Minister or the Minister of State, Deputy English, to the Chamber for a discussion on what changes the Government proposes to the planning process because we need to deliver infrastructure for the benefit of all our citizens. We also need safeguards to ensure the infrastructure takes account of the current population, pylons, wind farms, high rise buildings and Luas or metro extensions.

All these issues take much longer that most of us would like. In other countries a light rail system is promised one year and, two years later, it is operational. Here something is promised and 20 years later it is still not operational. I do not criticise a particular Government but the planning system tends to slow us down and the current Government needs to examine it. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House as soon as possible to do that.