Rural Planning: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Martin Conway (IND), Administrative Panel

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House, as the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, was as well. The message has been received loud and clear by Government that there are too many inconsistencies between counties. Having been in public life for over 20 years, I have dealt with many tricky and difficult planning decisions and, by and large, planners do the right thing and do the best they possibly can by clients, but sometimes regulations and requirements do not make sense. I welcome that the guidelines are going out to public consultation. I agree with Senator Boyhan that they need to go out for detailed consideration and public consultation. I sincerely hope that what comes back is taken on board by Government. The present Minister of State, who, like the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, comes from rural Ireland, will understand exactly the challenges there are and the various inconsistencies we have all experienced. We need to remove those inconsistencies because there is nothing as frustrating for members of the public as seeing a decision made, even in a different electoral area in a county, that differs from a decision they have been given, whatever about differences between counties. We need to see consistency across counties and consistency across planners and similar interpretations by planners. The only way that can happen is by proper regulation at Government level. I wish the Minister of State well and look forward to this process escalating.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10