Vol. 518 No. 6
129 Mr. Perry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the submissions she has received or deputation she has met concerning the draft detail planning guidelines; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12776/00]
The draft retail planning guidelines, to which the Deputy refers, were issued in April 1999 by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, who has primary responsibility in this area. He invited all interested parties to make submissions to his Department for consideration before finalisation of the guidelines.
I understand that a significant number of submissions have been made to the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, a small number of which were also copied to my Department for information. I have not met delegations on the subject.
In order to ensure that the wider economic, social and environmental aspects of the guidelines are fully understood and considered, I agreed with the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, that further analysis would be carried out on the likely impact of the guidelines on competition, prices, consumer choice and the supplier base. To this end, the Department of the Environment and Local Government and my Department have jointly commissioned a study to examine the likely impact of these guidelines on competition within the Irish retail sector, the supply of products to consumers at lower prices, consumer choice and the supplier base.
The results of this study, which is nearing completion, together with the submissions made by interested parties following publication of the draft guidelines, will help inform the final policy position on retail development to be pursued by the Government via the planning system.
