Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

No. I will not give it. We are not on section 42 of the Bill; we are on section 16. My issue with the wording of section 16 is that it is the Office of the Planning Regulator, the regional assembly and the planning authority that decide what is considered reasonable. It is not decided in legislation. Through our amendment, we are trying to put some shape on this. Where there is good practice in the Office of the Planning Regulator, regional assemblies and planning authorities, this will not be an issue but the problem concerns where there is poor practice. If there is not a good attitude and there is poor practice, there could be an issue related to limited times and limited access to information. That is why the current wording is far too vague and discretionary. Where there is good practice, we will not have a problem but where there is poor practice or a poor attitude, we will. We have all seen that the value of public consultations and displays can vary significantly, depending on the individuals involved in the process and their resources and time constraints. Time and resource constraints can result in minimisation. If people are under pressure and the legislation does not impose requirements on people, we have a difficulty.