Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McAuliffe's tactic to speak first was a good one but it backfired on him as amendment No. 52 is at the very end.

To be serious, every local authority member has to be advised of any LSRD application that is lodged. I thought it was a retrograde step when it got to a stage where councillors could not receive a briefing. A circular was issued some time ago, although not by me, whereby councillors could not call up files. They did not wish to get involved in the planning decision but to put forward their views. It used to work well in my local authority, for which I can speak. I am considering what we can do. The Deputy referred to Dublin City Council. There is nothing to stop a local authority from briefing councillors when there is a significant application. Some do and it makes a lot of sense. The passage of this legislation will mean that every councillor will know about every LRD application in his or her area. They will have to be informed about it. They will be able to make a submission.

A good thing about the SHDs that the Deputy mentioned was the group submission by the council that went to the board. The issue is whether any regard was paid to it. Many councillors I spoke to felt they put a lot of work into their submission but that it got lost when grouped with the submission of the local authority, be it Final County Council, Dublin City Council or Waterford City & County Council. It is different now because one is dealing with one’s own local authority. I am going to consider the question of how a local area committee or councillor might be able to engage. I believed the planning meetings at local authority level were useful, if used properly. Maybe they needed to be changed a bit. Councillors are not planners, and we do not want to muddy that line. We know where the reserve function associated with the development plan sits. We know where the executive function sits regarding planning but I am going to examine the matter. When the legislation is enacted, every local elected member will have to be advised when there is an application.