The essence of the new Planning and Development Bill which I published last week is about enhancing the quality of life for everybody who lives in this State. Having a decent home is basic to any family's standard of living, a clean, pleasant living environment is essential for health and happiness, good jobs are delivered by a successful economy which requires efficient use to be made of land resources and the proper planning and delivery of infrastructure projects.

A comprehensive review of the planning system was a major commitment in the programme of the present Government. The pressures associated with our unprecedented economic and demographic growth since the review began in autumn 1997 - pressures on housing supply, infrastructure, land resources and the environment - underline very forcibly the need for the review.

I was conscious of the delicate balance which needed to be struck between the many views and interests that were put forward. Efficiency has to be balanced against the need for full consideration of all the issues; physical development to provide for our social and economic needs has to be balanced against the protection of the environment; housing needs have to be balanced against the operation of the property market.

I also said at the outset that the revision of the planning code should be informed by three basic principles: that it should be strategic in its outlook, imbued by a sustainable development ethos and efficient in its operation. I believe the proposals in the Bill strike a reasonable balance and reflect these three guiding principles.

The Bill will bring a new strategic dimension to our planning system by means of a hierarchy of plans from a national spatial strategy through regional planning guidelines, city/county/town development plans and local areas plans.

While the city/county/town development plan will remain the anchor of the planning system it must be informed by national and regional strategies and will be filled in by the greater detail of the local areas plans.

The strategic approach will be carried through to the provision of adequate housing for the population. While much of the comment has centred around the provisions on social and affordable housing, I should point out that the housing strategies now required to be drawn up will have a broader remit to:

Ensure an adequate housing supply to meet the demand from all sectors of the market, and Promote more socially integrated communities.

The details of the housing provisions have already been widely reported so I need not go into them here. It is important to reiterate that the Government has been actively engaged on the housing issue since coming into office; this is the latest and admittedly most radical in a whole series of measures.

In view of the recognition given to private property rights in the Constitution, it was to be expected that questions would be raised about the constitutionality of the proposals in the Bill. However, I have already said, and I repeat here, that the Government is fully satisfied that the provisions have been drafted with the greatest care to ensure they comply with the constitutional requirements and that they meet the tests which the courts have tended to apply to legislation.

IT IS this very need to safeguard against constitutional challenge that dictated the detailed approach contained in the Bill, which has in some quarters been described as "heavy-handed".

It is my intention that local authorities will have the option of making arrangements with builders, when granting planning permission, to supply affordable houses as part of their own developments.

I completely reject the idea that the housing provisions of the Bill be hived off and dealt with separately from the rest of the Bill. It would be contrary to the whole approach of dealing with the housing supply issue as a central concern of planning and land use.

While I acknowledge that it is difficult to predict precisely the impact of radical measures like these on the market, I am convinced these measures will improve the supply of housing rather than cause it to grind to a halt as some commentators have suggested. Developers who have land ready for development have a great incentive to proceed with development before the quota for social and affordable housing comes into play. So we may well see a boost to supply in the short term.

Longer term, developers will know what the requirements are and will have to factor them into their calculations. That could well mean they should pay less for land than the highly inflated and unrealistic prices we have seen in the recent past. Even so, land owners lucky enough to have their land zoned and serviced for development will still benefit from a large increase in value. To suggest that they would not avail of such an opportunity does not make sense to me.

Where people live and work affects the sustainability of urban patterns through energy usage, pollution and so forth. The Bill puts sustainability at the heart of our planning system by providing for:

Mandatory environmental protection objectives to be contained in development plans and environmental assessment of development plans and regional planning guidelines.

A more holistic approach to considering Integrated Pollution Controlled development.

The introduction of landscape conservation areas.

The removal of the exemptions from planning for afforestation and peat extraction (to be replaced by more flexible exemptions in regulations).

If the planning system is to meet the needs of today's increasingly fast-moving and competitive world, it must be efficient in its operation, delivering definite decisions within a reasonable and predictable timeframe.

There are many measures in the Bill to enhance the efficiency of the system. Third parties must have made their objections to the planning authority in order to exercise right of appeal to An Bord Pleanala and low level fees will be introduced for submission of observations to the planning authority on planning applications.

I want to make it clear that the amount of the fee is not set out in the Bill. This will be done in regulations later. I have said, however, that the fee will be small and not such as to prevent genuine observations being put forward, and I'm quite prepared to listen to views before coming to a final decision on the amount of the fee.

The new Strategic Development Zones are designed to increase Ire land's international competitiveness and facilitate indigenous industry in key sectors.

There are also several significant changes aimed at speeding up the planning and approval stages of ma jor infrastructural projects in areas such as roads, water, waste, etc.

Enforcement is an aspect of efficiency where there has been a perceived weakness. Under the Bill, a new stronger and clearer enforcement regime is being put in place. I am determined it will no longer pay to play fast and loose with the planning system and there are strong powers to deal with unfinished housing estates.

Although this is a long and complex Bill I am anxious that the general public would get the best possible understanding of it. Ultimately, this Bill concerns every citizen of the State, not just the various interest groups and sectoral bodies. I have already said I am prepared to look very closely at any suggestions for improvement before the Bill comes before the Seanad Eireann in October.