Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Sorry; I did not realise the agency would be here. However, I ask the witnesses to make some quick comments on housing.

The next topic is rural links. Do the witnesses think planning issues, particularly planning permission for multiple discount stores, have an impact on small towns and villages? Dún Laoghaire is on the edge of Dublin but it has too many large supermarkets and discount stores, which have drained the life out of the town and village centre and thus affected small businesses. Do the witnesses think large multiples and discount stores threaten village and rural life?