"We will have to make significant changes to these laws. The response time must be as stipulated by law. Currently, the average review of the PDM is more than five years. We will take a more aggressive stance in terms of land use planning, including regarding building permits," said Manuel Castro Almeida, also Minister of Economy, during a procedural hearing at the State Reform and Local Government Committee of the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon.

The official said that, regarding the review of the PDM, "the solution is not to increase the number of technicians, but to reduce procedures."

A similar review is being prepared "to ensure shorter delays in granting construction permits," he added.

"We're going to have to do a lot of digging to solve this problem," he emphasised.

Castro Almeida noted that the PDM problem "is under the government's watch."

"Working on this will be a priority. I have a meeting with the presidents of the Coordination and Development Committees on Thursday, and this could help define a timetable," he said, in response to questions about deadlines from IL representative Carlos Guimarães Pinto.

The minister said he has a "very ambitious" goal, but that it will "take time."

"If we reach the end of the legislative term meeting legal deadlines, it would be a remarkable result. Not meeting these deadlines by the end of the legislative term would be standing in the middle of a goal. But we will definitely make progress," he assured.

The problem, he indicated, "has been accumulating over the years" and "we need to start reversing the cycle."

"We need increasingly shorter deadlines to achieve a normal situation," he explained.

Socialist Party representative Jorge Botelho noted that "the chambers' powers are limited in many matters, and the government is to blame."

"Regarding simplification, we agree. City halls and mayors are not to blame at all. If the law is clear and objective, the mayor can issue orders because he wants the territory to develop," he said.