John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make a brief comment before the Minister of State responds. I am someone who sat on a local authority for 11 years. As other speakers have indicated, the agreement of a development plan is a reserved function of councillors that they take exceptionally seriously. We are not referring here to variations or deciding the detail of a development plan; this is purely about giving more time in order to consider the development plan as a result of what has happened with Covid. Anybody who has engaged with councillors across the country know they have found it exceptionally difficult to proceed with the development plan process in terms of consultation with the public, the planners and among themselves. It is a job of councillors. It is a reserved function and if they see fit, as is provided for in this legislation, to have an extension for any element of the plan from here on in they should be enabled to do so.Putting restrictions in place and elongating the process takes away from the reserved functions the councillors should and do have in this process and in what we seek to provide for in this Bill.