Mr. John O'Connor:

In response to Deputy Ó Broin, I will stick to the findings of the report in terms of the planning process and its comments on that. There are two areas in the report. One is on page 33 regarding the planning process. According to the report, representatives believe that the requirement for public consultation can result in radically discriminatory comments and feedback from the public, which can block proposals going forward. The concern is that when Traveller accommodation is being provided, part of that involves a public consultation process which does not happen for other accommodation. Furthermore, representatives stated that they believe elected members are campaigning against Traveller accommodation to win elections and that some of these politicians are involved with TACCs for the purpose of opposing Traveller accommodation. They stated that county development plans and other policies are connected with the TAPs, which cause issues when trying to secure land for Traveller accommodation. Sites for Traveller accommodation should be specified in wider county development plans to help secure Traveller-specific accommodation. It is about the consultation process, the development plan and the individual planning applications. Issues were highlighted throughout the planning process. Other parts of the report also deal with it, but these are at a high level.