Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 502: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on amending the legislation which includes a provision for a pre-application consultation by developers with the public on significant developments or strategic developments, and to extend this provision to include large but not strategic infrastructure developments which will have a significant impact on the local community; if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties created for both developers and local communities when a large development is applied for without prior consultation with the local residents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28199/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I refer to the reply to Question No. 561 of 31 October. I do not think it would be either appropriate or practical for pre-application consultations to become mandatorily required for all prospective developments of the type referred to in the Question. The provisions in relation to pre-application consultations between planning authorities and prospective applicants already contained in Section 247 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, combined with the very extensive public notification and participation provisions set out under planning legislation detailed in the previous above reply mentioned provides a robust framework for addressing the concerns raised. I have no proposals, therefore, to amend the existing legislation.