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

I am far less generous on this point than Deputy O'Callaghan has been. Charlestown in Dublin is the obvious example. If I had been an elected representative for Finglas at the time Fingal County Council decided to develop Charlestown, I would have seen how "insofar as is practicable" becomes technically a problem. One of the consequences of the Charlestown development was its really negative and detrimental impact on the core population centre of Finglas village in a way that is contrary to good planning. That is a widely held view other than among a number of officials and elected members of Fingal County Council.

I have a very specific question in regard to this provision. What does "insofar as is practicable" actually mean in legislative terms? Who decides that? We have spent a lot of time talking about the Government's desire to have greater consistency, co-ordination and clarity in these matters. There was a very helpful discussion around the co-ordinated area plans. However, they do not apply to developments like Charlestown. I know I am not allowed to get into the detail but I will mention it anyway. The same issue arises in respect of the co-ordination between Cork County Council and Cork City Council. Again, if there was a firmer requirement, we might not be in the situation where we cannot discuss that particular issue because it is before the courts. I am asking the Minister of State to convince me that these four words should remain in the subsection. Will he tell me what they mean and who gets to decide what is practicable? This is a reasonable question.