Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
============================================================

Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I am at this long enough to know not to start making diary commitments on the floor of the Dáil. However, the Government will continue to engage with communities on this issue. Indeed, the Deputy has referenced some of my own constituents. Obviously, I engage with my own constituents. I am happy to do that also.
I am not across the level of detail the Deputy has just given me - let me reflect on that - but the point he makes around inconsistency in general is an issue we want to stamp out. A planning system does well when it is consistent. That is one of the reasons we changed the rural planning guidelines this week. It is one of the reasons we are changing the exempted development guidelines. Particularly in a small country, we should not have a different approach to planning from one place versus another above and beyond normal norms that local authorities may wish to have.
The purpose of moving to national planning statements is to move away from those inconsistencies. I accept, and it would be wrong and disingenuous to suggest anything to the contrary, that it has taken a very significant period of time to get to the new wind guidelines. It is true. I know it is a cause of significant frustration for communities, as it was when Deputy O'Donoghue and I had that meeting. However, I would point out that a lot has changed since, including the Planning and Development Act. It is really important that these new standards be up to date with the best possible information, and-----

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02