I intend to move amendments Nos. 90, 94, 96, 103, 107 and 110. I do not propose to speak on any of them because they are self-explanatory. We will deal with them in due course. Colleagues will have read the amendments. I will leave it at that. On the national planning statements, I take up where the Leader left off. I thank her for her ongoing support for one-off rural housing. She spoke in the House yesterday about the guidelines on such housing. Yes, we must get those guidelines right. However, they have been pro…

What of the rural housing guidelines?

On planning and housing.

I was keeping an eye out. I was a guiding light for the Senator.

With regard to the national planning statements, the Minister of State confirmed to the House, and that was new to me, so I thank him, that the Attorney General is now reviewing the draft rural housing guidelines. That is important and is progress. We had not heard about it before. What is the likely timeframe for this? Is it envisaged to be for the whole summer?

It is an important point to make and to follow up because the Minister of State said it and it is progress. At least we are another stage along the road. Clearly, the Attorney General will advise the Government. That is his call and his business. In line with the Minister of State's response, however, I reiterate my call that the message has to go out loud and clear and it would be important to have some sort of announcement about the commitment to put these guidelines out to public consultation. If we want consult…

We are.

We are.

We are in the hands of the Leas-Chathaoirleach.

I move amendment No. 90: In page 71, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(6) The proposed National Planning Statement shall be the subject of a vote in both Houses of the Oireachtas and must be approved by the Oireachtas before coming into effect.".

I move amendment No. 94: In page 71, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: "(9) SSPRs as defined by the Act of 2000 shall be abolished.".

I move amendment No. 96: In page 71, to delete lines 31 and 32.

I move amendment No. 103: In page 72, to delete lines 26 to 29.

I move amendment No. 107: In page 72, after line 40 to insert the following: “(2) The Minister shall consult with stakeholders in all local planning authorities.”.

I move amendment No. 134: In page 104, to delete lines 17 to 22 and substitute the following: “(1) Subject to paragraph (b) of subsection (5) , a planning authority shall make a development plan for its functional area every 7 years. (2) Not later than 3 years after the making of each development plan for the functional area of a planning authority, the planning authority shall commence a review of the development plan in accordance with section 53 and 54 , with a view to making a new development plan in accordance…

I will go back to consideration of amendment No. 134, with which we are dealing in this set of amendments, and to recap something Senator Fitzpatrick talked about. What is an additional year on six or seven years? To be clear, I am not asking for an additional year. I reiterate that the AILG is composed of members of the Minister of State's party, of every other party and of no party at all. The president is a Fianna Fáil councillor in Wicklow, Mr. Gail Dunne, who wrote to Senators. I do not know at what aspect of …

The AILG comprises practitioners and councillors, and this is the request it has made. Let us be clear that this is an opportunity to put where we stand on the record. We do not speak out of both sides of our mouths. We must make a commitment, honour it and make the best case for it. I am here to make the best case for Mr. Dunne, the president of the AILG, and all its members, of all parties and none. They were against ten years. They suggested in their submission to Members of this House that if they could not get…

I raise yet again rural housing guidelines. I have said it time and time again. I printed off all of the times I spoke in this Seanad in relation to rural housing. For five years, we have been told they are in the making and they will be published in five, six or seven weeks' time. Nothing has happened. It is continually raised with me. I spent the last few weeks touring around the country and meeting practitioners of planning, including local government planners and our city and county councillors. I was in three …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 27, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2) the provisions of this Act relating to the repeal of the termination of the Office of Planning Regulator shall come into effect on the passing of this Act.”. I welcome the Minister of State and his team to the House. It is my intention to keep debate on these amendments pretty brief and to the point. There was a substantial amount of debate at the Oireachtas joint committee. Many of the mem…

I fully concur with Senator Casey. He has given a great overview on it and I agree with his commentary relating to our city and county councillors. It is a little unfair to come into the House and cast aspersion on the work they do. There are processes. I will finish off my contribution on the Office of the Planning Regulator. I thank the Library and Research Service for its pre-legislative scrutiny of, and commentary on the select principal provisions in, the Planning and Development Bill. The service always does …