In the programme for Government, there is a great deal of emphasis on rural Ireland and that is rightly so. What I want to raise, however, is the matter of serial objectors to planning applications. There is no good reason in the world why any individual in his or her right mind would have 20 or 30 objections going at any given time.

Is this on promised legislation?

Yes, it is in the programme for Government. I am asking whether the Government intends to bring in legislation. While we appreciate the genuine objection from a person who has a problem with a development in his or her local area, there is no place for serial objectors. If a project is going on in one county, why would somebody in another county want to object to it? It does not make sense. Could the Government look at the situation and see? There is no proper reason for a normal person to want to have 20 objections going at a time, yet we have such people.

To be helpful on that, there are a number of Bills coming forward on planning, one of which is already before the House on Second Stage and concerns the establishment of a planning regulator. Another Bill will be brought to Cabinet next week with the purpose of streamlining planning decisions and putting statutory timelines around those decisions for larger planning applications. There will be a further planning Bill which is about a review of the overall planning system. That review process has already begun within my Department and it is considering a whole series of issues. We will have an opportunity to tease through a lot of these questions which are often linked with planning issues and frustration. My only objective is to maintain the integrity of planning decisions while at the same time providing for more streamlined decision-making so that we can get developments happening in the right place and in a more timely fashion. There will be numerous legislative initiatives which will provide Deputy Healy-Rae with the opportunity to tease through some of the issues he has.