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

There are current waivers for charities, for argument's sake. I refer as well to where there are elected members and where their observations, whether I agree with them or not, are made. The Deputy will be aware of this aspect. Some local authorities have very strict criteria around what can be included in an observation in respect of where a fee would be waived. For argument's sake, some just permit a one-line observation, whether the person concerned is in support of the measure or not. If that is expanded on then, it moves outside the terms of the waiver, and this is an aspect I do wish to look at. I think it is fair to address the situation where elected members may be interested enough to make observations, and they may, for whatever reason, make several observations. It becomes costly, then, if they get into paying the fee on each of them because it is more expansive than a planning authority would like. This is something I am going to look at.

The Deputy's other question concerned whether there was anything in the legislation in relation to-----