Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Keegan, Mr. Keogan and Mr. Downey. Many of the questions I was going to ask have already been asked but it is clear to me that Dublin City Council has applied the planning laws as they are in dealing with this planning application. Nevertheless, Mr. Keegan said he would welcome an independent review of the handling of this decision by Dublin City Council and that is perhaps something that should be considered. As he points out, there is no appeal mechanism so it is not like any other planning application where somebody can go to An Bord Pleanála and the whole issue is reviewed. I take the point that, when one is planning events like this, the decision has to be made within a short timeframe or, otherwise, the event will not take place.

It appears the GAA and the promoters did have an expectation they were going to get the five, for whatever reason. The sale of the tickets before the granting of the licence probably influenced that expectation as well as the fact there had never been an application for five consecutive events of this nature.

The impact of that on an area like Croke Park and its surroundings would certainly equate to an over-intensification. The situation we are in now is the first occasion, as far as I am aware, on which an Oireachtas committee has parsed, analysed and gone over a planning decision in this way. Perhaps an independent review would be worthwhile. Currently, the people who purchased tickets are getting refunds and the show is not coming to town.