Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no big scandal involved with the €5 million.

I would like to make a point about holding oral hearings in local authority buildings instead of hotels. A point was made earlier about the interface there. Consider a private citizen who may be in conflict with the local authority. If I was being brought into a local authority office, I would feel that everyone there might be working against me. I agree with cost savings, and I am sure there are ways to explore that. I do not agree, however, and I do not think it is acceptable that a citizen of this country who has an oral hearing to do with a local authority, and where they are on opposite sides, could be put in a position where he or she would have to walk into the opposition's building. I am not really expecting the witnesses to agree with this, or they can if they want. I just wanted it on the record.