Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My apologies, but that is not the question I am asking. While I do not agree with the Minister of State, I accept his point that Members of the Oireachtas are included in section 21(2). My question is a different one. Section 22(1) provides that in carrying out a review under section 20, the Government "may have regard to" such plans or documents as it considers appropriate. It uses the word “may”, whereas “shall” is used for the consultative process, in the sense of “shall have regard to any observations” coming out of that process. The Minister of State is giving a weaker provision for the NPF review with respect to Government plans or documents. Why was the decision taken to use a weaker formulation of words in section 22(1) than in section 21(4), for example? Why is there a greater level of obligation on the NPF reviews to have regard to public consultation documents rather than Government policy? It seems odd.