Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the role of the Cathaoirleach in Senator Norris's portrait being displayed in Leinster House. It is very fitting. I was going to say it is long overdue. It is not long overdue but it is certainly very fitting that it has been done. It is well deserved given Senator Norris's time, service and dedication to the public over a long period of time. As someone who is a relatively new Senator, I know from other colleagues from all parties that we always find it a privilege to be a colleague of Senator Norris. I wish him well and acknowledge his work on this Bill. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State as well. I have found him to be incredibly supportive in the past two years. There have been issues in my county he has led on and aided. Knocklofty House is one of these issues. I know we are talking about built heritage but I have not yet had the opportunity to thank the Minister of State for that support. There is a real history with that building and the Minister of State's support and commitment to it is very much appreciated.

Senator Cummins could not be here today. He would have been leading on this. Fine Gael will not oppose this Bill. There are obviously concerns from our side about staffing issues and the chief executive having control of staffing issues, although it is nothing that could not be worked out. When Senator Norris goes through the Bill, it is clear that an awful lot of it is just common sense. It is really important to have stronger protection for that within local authorities. If we can work through issues, we can reach a middle ground.

Senator Boyhan spoke about reviewing planning legislation. We are at the stage where we really should be doing this. Many things get held up. One of the things I hear quite a lot, certainly in Tipperary, is that it takes the same length of time to go through the planning process if you are building a 5,000 sq. m house as it does when you are building an extension. Things have not been updated in quite some time.I would therefore support a review of that planning legislation.

I commend all the Senators involved on getting the Bill to this point. My party will work with them to make sure that it gets over the line.