Sir, - I wish to compliment your Environment Correspondent, Mr Frank McDonald, on his comprehensive coverage of the Planning and Development Bill, 1999. I fully agree with him that there is a need for many more professional planners, if we are to fully implement both recent and current draft legislation.
There is an evident need for more planners to run the planning system effectively, to address new areas of importance and to provide a quality service to the consumers of that service, i.e. the general public. Too often in the past, evident need was not translated into actual demand, as posts remained vacant, career structures underdeveloped and the planning system seriously under-resourced. This situation has improved in recent years and it is to be hoped that this positive trend will both continue and accelerate.
For its part, the Department of Regional and Urban Planning in University College Dublin has consistently sought to meet the planning education needs of Irish society, while operating to the highest international standards. We have repeatedly responded to changes in demand. In line with this practice, this Department has now brought forward priority proposals to further increase the supply of graduates. They include a number of developmental and educational initiatives, including the establishment of an undergraduate programme of accredited planning education.
In his otherwise excellent and comprehensive coverage, Mr McDonald is somewhat incorrect in one detail. He quotes a consultant as saying that virtually all of our planning graduates "are snapped up by the private sector". While the growth of the private sector is to be welcomed, at least half of our graduates still find their first professional employment within the public sector. Indeed, recent trends show evidence of a great deal of two-way movement of employees between the private and the public sectors. - Yours etc.,
Michael J. Bannon, Professor and Head of Department, Regional and Urban Planning, University College Dublin.