Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 24, to delete line 6 and substitute “as soon as practicable following submission to the members of the authority.”.

The amendment relates to the reports on public consultations which chief executives of local authorities will be required to make. We argue that such reports should be made public and published before the councillors make any decision so that there is transparency in this process. As I understand the current arrangements, such reports would only be made public after the decision is made, which does not allow for public engagement. This matter is significant because the CEOs' reports are an important part of the process, going back to what Deputy O'Dowd said earlier. Whether it be a draft report or not, everything should be public and published in a timely fashion so that developers or others do not have a significant advantage. Citizens should be able to know the chief executives' recommendations in respect of submissions for the plan so they can contact their councillors and so on. It is a matter of openness and transparency and it is a very important amendment in this entire process.