Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also disagree with the amendments. While I can accept the genuine thrust behind them, we must all accept we have a planning process with which most people are familiar and the same timeframes are applied in respect of a planning process.This point in the engagement is not the first time the appellant has engaged with the process. He or she is well aware of the process and will have made the original observation with regard to the file. For that reason, I think 28 days is an adequate provision.

I wish to make two other points about the wait for the portal to be ready. I have had many discussions at committee meetings with Senator Boyhan, who is in the Chamber, about An Bord Pleanála and its lack of a portal for making information available to the public. I do not believe the legislation can wait until a portal is ready because I have my fears that it could be a good bit down the road. It is frustrating from the point of view that we have an exceptionally good planning portal available in all our local authorities. I cannot see why these systems cannot be copied and pasted over to different Departments.

Senator Higgins mentioned an emergency. Clear guidance was given during this emergency. Extended periods for observations and submissions were allowed during the initial Covid-19 lockdown of three months. As every planning application was more or less put on hold, the same timeframes were given plus that three-month period. Even in the case of a pandemic, like we are going through now, there are mechanisms that allow the Minister to step in through emergency legislation to make sure everybody has a fair and equal opportunity to make an observation or to appeal a process.