Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Keegan and his officials. Mr. Keegan used the phrase "from the outside looking in". We are here to be informed as to how the local authority arrived at its decisions. In respect of something as significant as this it seemed chaotic. There were many twists and turns in the licence application from all sides. It became a circus and it is helpful to get some clarity from at least the authority's point of view as to how it arrived at its decision.

Listening to the approach that has been taken and noting the statutory requirements, I see that the local authority has been doing this for some time. It deals with applications as they arise. It is the same way. It considers disruption, the views of residents and all the other issues which are taken into account. It is difficult to understand why there is no over-riding blueprint. I acknowledge that Mr. Keegan has said events are detached from development. Why is there no plan whereby promoters, event management, the authority, councillors and residents can feed in and be part of an overall process? It could be the same process to be reviewed, voted on by elected representatives thereby providing at least some indication in advance to stakeholders what the policy in Dublin city on events is. If there are three concerts in one venue, one goes through one process. If it goes over that, it is an entirely different process. That is difficult to explain to people looking in at this one. It is going back to a decision of An Bord Pleanála.

In deliberating on and arriving at the decision, different consultations were cited. Is there a planning team that makes recommendations in Dublin City Council comprising a broader, extended internal committee? In this instance, I refer to Mr. Keogan. Does Dublin City Council have a strategic policy committee for event management only? If so, how often does it meet and has it made recommendations? This is not the first big gig Dublin City Council has dealt with. We had the 2009 one which Mr. Keegan said was controversial. Has the council learned anything from that? Could we move the process on in-house to provide more certainty in advance?

There was a distinct lack of pre-decision consultation, whether it was informal or formal. I do not see any evidence of minuted meetings. Would Mr. Keegan not think it would be good practice to minute meetings, particularly when there are more than three or four stakeholders and all the residents? It would make sense to invite the stakeholders for a formal pre-planning minuted meeting in order to have better transparency in the whole issue.

I am pleased that the letter was withdrawn. I find it curious that that would be asked. I am a member of a very small GAA club, 240 miles from Croke Park. I am not sure whether that is a conflict. We are aware of our obligations under the legislation and it often happens that Members will declare conflicts and declare interests. I am pleased that has been withdrawn. The witnesses have outlined their position regarding the residents and their own interests. Are they Garth Brooks fans? Do they have his DVDs, CDs, iTunes downloads and all the rest of it?