Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We want to go in and do quick, keyhole operations, so we need a copy of the application Cena sent. Our job then will be to kick ass and get an answer.

I agree the ultimate solution is a Traveller authority, but Mr. Collins and I both know that even if there were an agreement in principle to go ahead with that tomorrow, it would be two, three or four years before a chief executive and all the rest had been put in place. In the meantime, section 4 applications are a problem because, unlike in the case of most planning, members of the local authority get to vote on them individually. Has anyone looked at the new planning Bill? I acknowledge it runs to 800 pages but I am sure they would quickly enough find which section they were looking for. Even Members of the Oireachtas with experience in law are having problems and challenges with the Bill because it is so big. We need to find out whether there is a specific solution to this in the Bill, and if not, what could be done as a short-term step to take this veto of community lobbying that happens on Traveller developments on the section 4 side out of the system.

In my view, and I hate to say this or to take power away from any elected person, given I am one myself, it is just not working, and when something does not work, there is a time when we have to say it is not working. Certainly, it is not working in a lot of local authorities, and there has to be a short-term fix whereby if it is not working, there is another, quicker way. I know that, technically speaking, the chief executive can overrule the veto, but I have never seen that happen. Perhaps there could be a tweak in the Bill to say that in the event of it not being satisfactory, there would be an obligation on the CEO to review it, and if he or she were of the opinion that it was the wrong decision, there could be some mechanism in that regard. We cannot allow this to become a constant barrier to social housing, and we see that issue is not resolving itself by public opinion. If anything, public opinion is even further dug in.

I would be interested to hear my colleagues' views on this. The planning Bill has to be an opportunity. There is a bit of work involved, but I am talking about a very targeted measure, short of the bigger one, that could be worked on in parallel. If somebody has given us an opportunity, we should avail of it by carrying out a targeted operation on this to get over the problem and give us time to go at the bigger problems.