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

There are a few issues with the amendment but, in principle, I agree having a public consultation over, say, a holiday period will not exercise the minds of the public. In practice, however, that is extremely rare. As an example, we discussed yesterday the sustainable residential development and complex settlement growth guidelines. I had them ready before Christmas. Most local authorities, if not all, will ensure consultations do not occur over holiday periods, especially Christmas. Deputy Ó Broin mentioned July and August, and while this is not a criticism, one question relates to what we would define as a traditional holiday period. People would normally see that as Christmas, Easter or, say, the St. Patrick's Day or other bank holiday period. I do not think July and August is any longer defined as a traditional holiday period, even if the Deputies and I might think it is. One issue with the amendment, therefore, relates to what a traditional holiday period is.

In practice, what will happen where there is a bank holiday or something similar is that this additional day will be added, as already happens. We have been prescriptive in other parts of the Bill, such as in regard to development plans. The notification of a draft plan to relevant parties, for example, is set as happening within a four-week period. The provision in the Bill will provide the flexibility the Deputies are seeking and it is a catch-all provision. That is the purpose of it. In other areas of the Bill, such as with regard to development plans, the period is specified. Let us take development plans as an example for a draft stage publication. If that draft stage publication is over a period when there happens to be a bank holiday, an additional day will be added to that.

The Deputies' definition – this is not a criticism – is problematic, unless they tell me what they deem a traditional holiday period to be. I acknowledge they have referred to the consideration of what constitutes a reasonable period. I genuinely believe that what we have included is more than sufficient. Especially regarding my Department, I cannot remember a consultation in recent years that covered a traditional holiday period. We are even conscious of the circumstances over the summer months, for example. In Fingal, which is my area and that of Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, the authorities made sure to hold public consultations, including on the likes of New Street, at times when people could interact.

The other point to remember, on which I will conclude, is that public consultation is now much broader and much more accessible. It is not just a case of putting a notice in the library and presenting the plans, as used to be the case fadó, fadó. Information is now put online and notices are published on social media. It is all accessible online, which is good. The lessons from Covid are such that, in many instances, we still have hybrid-type meetings, whereby people can engage virtually by video call or Zoom and various other technologies. For this reason, what we have included in the legislation is more than sufficient.