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

Why this process as opposed to a material contravention? I think I already know the answer but I would like the Minister to put it on the record.

This puts the councillors in an unusual position. Let us say it is a large, economic development. This would be putting the elected members in a position where they are not deciding the planning permission but clearly the indication from the management, if it is triggering this procedure, would be for support if the resolution is to pass. For the first time, we are actually back in a situation like we had previously where elected members are making significant decisions impacting what could be significant commercial investments and planning decisions. While I am not in any way suggesting there is anything untoward in the motivation behind this, in another era and another location, it has some risks. How do we protect against those risks?