Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will give a straight answer to a question. No, but I will tell the Deputy why. The reason I will not meet them is quite simply because it has gone through the process. I do not want to meet them and give them false hope that I can change something. Coillte and the people involved went through the necessary procedures. They went through the appeals. The Deputy said the council was not involved. It most certainly was. It put in a submission at the beginning. At the end of the day, these people have the right to plant that ground. Yes, I take on board the good case made by the Deputy in a genuine way and that of the other local politicians who have come to me. At the end of the day, the horse has bolted. The majority of the work undertaken is actually finished. I have every sympathy for the locals involved, but the Deputy is asking me if I will meet with them. I have no business meeting somebody if I cannot change what is there. What is there now is in black and white. These people have the right to go in to finish their work. It is an entirely independent decision for them to make. If they are going to finish that work, I cannot interfere with that because they are legally entitled to do it. The answer to the question on whether I will meet them is that I will not because I will not mislead them.