Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to the House again. He is in regular attendance in this House. I would like to concentrate my remarks on section 30, which is an important section in that it deals with the transfer of powers. I do not agree with the Department's view that councillors cannot comment on planning applications. Councillors spend a lot of time developing and studying county development plans. In the case of a planning application, which may be controversial or not, on which a decision may be imminent or made, a councillor is prohibited from taking any stock as to what the executive can or cannot do. We have seen some deplorable planning decisions by executives over the years. I appreciate that the main function of councillors is to put in place county development plans, but when they put those plans in place, surely they should have some form of oversight of them to ensure transparency. Councillors who have spent years putting together the plans should be able to comment on them.They all might agree that in their view a planning application might not fit into an area. At the end of the day a planning decision is only somebody's view anyway. In most cases it is a view - my view or the planner's view. This is something the Minister of State should look at. The Minister has taken away the powers of councillors to comment in the chamber on planning applications.

I am nearly out of time, but I wish to refer to another area the Minister should have a look at. I refer to discussing county development plans on Zoom or other form of e-meeting facility. I am not sure it is in the best interests of putting a county development plan together. Some councillors could be under pressure. There could be somebody in the room with them. The telephone line or Internet might go down. A whole host of problems can arise. This is an area the Minister of State should examine. A county development plan is a very legal document. Many decisions are taken in it on development plans. This is an area that has not been thought out that well.