I move amendment No. 3: In page 3, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: "PART 2 PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Definitions ( Part 2 ) 3. In this Part "Act of 2000" means the Planning and Development Act 2000.".

I move amendment No. 4: In page 3, line 25, to delete "Principal Act" and substitute "Act of 2000".

Will the Deputy stick to the Bill?

Not at this stage of the plan.

Many points have been raised this evening and while I will not stray into all of them, this is not to diminish the points that are probably more appropriate to another debate on rural regeneration, development and planning, and the town and village centre first concept. I will be happy to engage with Deputies on it. There is a strong and robust plan for that in the programme for Government. We believe in rural regeneration, there is no question about that. For the information of the House, I am undertaking a review…

Many Members have complained that the work is being done the day before the Christmas recess, as though we are not supposed to be working. I do not see what the point is. It is a day when the Dáil is sitting and rightly so, when we are working and of course we should.

Most of us will be working right through to next week. I am not 100% sure what the point was that some Deputies were making. It is complex but important legislation and there is a suggestion that there is something wrong with it being introduced in December.

I do not really understand the point and maybe those who made it can explain it later in the evening. Section 11(3) relates to the initial stage of the development plan review process. The stage is undertaken before a pre-draft or a draft plan has been prepared by the planning authority and can best be described as the stage when the initial relevant issues and topics are identified for further more detailed consideration in the subsequent plan preparation process. For this initial strategic issue stage, planning a…

In the traditional public meeting format-----

The Deputy is easily goaded. In the traditional meeting format, not everyone wishes to speak, unlike in here, and often those who do speak may seek to dominate the meeting with specific-interest issues only. Despite the intention of section 11(3)( b ) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 being to focus on the strategic and not the specific - the Deputy pointed that out and he is correct - it is also the case that there is no mechanism or obligation for what is said at a public meeting to be taken on board, as s…

I wish to make one point by way of clarification. Section 11(3)( b ) of the 2000 Act will encourage any type of communication. It will certainly not preclude advertisements in newspapers or whatever methods will work in any given area. In fact, I would encourage that. The Deputy may not know my area in north County Dublin. There is a large rural area with several rural villages. It is a unique setting within Dublin. I was in Limerick in the last few days. I take his point. This is not an attempt to drive people ont…

I will address amendment No. 8, which is tabled jointly by Deputies Cian O’Callaghan and Ó Broin. The amendment seeks to replace the word “appropriate” with the word “essential" in section 3(2) of the Bill. This would amend section 3(2) of the Bill to specify that the Government may by order specify such period, in this section referred to as an "emergency period", for the purposes of this section as the Government considers essential, rather than as the Government considers appropriate. I must reject the amendment…

I move amendment No. 16: In page 5, lines 16 and 17, to delete "Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020" and substitute "Act of 2020".

I move amendment No. 17: In page 5, to delete lines 31 and 32.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 5, line 36, to delete "Principal Act" and substitute "Act of 2000".

I move amendment No. 19: In page 6, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 177E of Act of 2000 4. Section 177E of the Act of 2000 is amended, in subsection (2), by— (a) the deletion of paragraph (g), and (b) the insertion of the following after paragraph (f): “(g) be received by the Board within the period specified in section 177B, 177D or 261A, as appropriate, and the said application may be accompanied by any other documents that the applicant considers would be of assistance to th…

Previous documents will not be made available as per the advice of the Attorney General.

To which amendment is the Deputy referring?

I just had to check the details. It is inherent in references in the drafting. We can issue further clarification on that and we will do so in writing.

I move amendment No. 20: In page 6, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 177H of Act of 2000 5. Section 177H of the Act of 2000 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1): “(1) Any person (other than the applicant for substitute consent) or a planning authority may make submissions or observations (including submissions or observations as to the existence or absence of exceptional circumstances justifying a grant of substitute consent) to the Board…