Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have deliberated at length in private session on the petitions before us and we will now go into public session to record the decisions of the committee.

The first petition is No. P00060/12 from Mr. Ross Quinn, who is of the view that there is a conflict of interest with regard to Clare County Council's traffic and tourist signage management and rates collection given that it operates the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre, café and shops. The committee has previously considered this petition and has corresponded with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in the context of its role in overseeing the implementation of county development plans to ask whether it is satisfied that current departmental guidelines to councils ensure that proper procedures are followed and if it is possible under existing rules that councils could give themselves preferential treatment in terms of promoting their own facilities to the detriment of surrounding areas. The committee has agreed to forward a copy of the Minister’s response to the petitioner for information and to close the petition on the basis that we are satisfied from the response that there is no breach of policy.