Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if, in view of the recent An Taisce State of the Nation report which highlighted several issues with regard to planning and development across the entire country, if he will be considering expanding the independent planning investigations process begun by his predecessor to include all 88 planning authorities in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22557/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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While the An Taisce Report presents a position on planning at the local level utilising a particular set of indicators, the Regional Planning Guidelines Implementation Annual Report 2011 prepared jointly by the 8 Regional Authorities in respect of their activities, also provides information on planning and development across the entire country, particularly in regard to the alignment of plans at national, regional and local levels. This report by the regional authorities is a first step in achieving a comprehensive overview of planning; it contains a commitment to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of Regional Planning Guidelines' implementation including by the establishment of a robust set of indicators.

Furthermore, my Department is currently examining the relevant recommendations of the Final Report of the Mahon Tribunal with a view to developing comprehensive responses to them. My focus is on finalising the current planning review and I have no plans to include any further planning authorities to assist this review.