Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure that is the case, and that is fine. However, the situation is that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government knows of this request from Wicklow County Council.

It acknowledged the request which came from a senior level. I cannot remember the exact signature on the letter, but the acknowledgement came from a pretty senior level in the Department. Presumably, when the then Deputy Liz McManus raised the issue in the Dáil in 2010, that kicked off an array of events in the Department in responding and flashed the issue on the radar. Otherwise we are into a bigger issue. One hopes that when one tables parliamentary questions, as I have done on numerous occasions on Ballybeg, it triggers a chain of activity causing somebody to find out the Department's position. Otherwise we are all wasting our time here. Every time I have asked the question the Department's position has been to the effect that it has not yet decided.

I warmly welcome the system of local government reform. We are coming into a situation where, regardless of political affiliation, we are asking civic minded people to put their names forward, contest local elections and take part in their communities. They are operating under the Local Government Act which specifically states the Department can grant a local inquiry where an independent person arbitrates, possibly in a council chamber or nearby building, and makes a decision. That request is outstanding for more than three years on something that took place more than ten years ago. It is slightly suspicious or odd that the Department has not adjudicated on the issue one way or another, even if one fully disagrees with the local representatives. At the least, it is extremely bad manners that there has not been a response.