Mr. John Neenan:

Let me first deal with Senator Gallagher's question. In the other European countries, there is only a single system; it is either for licensing or for planning. Under EU law, there is no necessity for both. Ireland is an outlier there.

I said the application had been with An Bord Pleanála for 14 months. It has actually been with it for 13 months.

An Bord Pleanála is not making the decision because it will be challenged in the courts when it does so.

Deputy Cowen had a question about the heads of the agreement and the lack of a response in that regard. We have received no response from any of the Departments. A request was made to pass it on to the legal officials in the Department and we gave that permission. If they thought it was okay, it was to go to the Office of the Attorney General but we have heard nothing back since.