Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to have this pre-legislative scrutiny of this legislation. Giving effect to the EU directive is long overdue.. It is more than two years since we commenced this process. Many bodies have been considered in terms of whether they would be more appropriate to be designated as the competent authority. Despite the Government taking this decision, there are still question marks as to whether Fingal County Council is the appropriate competent authority to deal with this EU directive. How does this proposal compare with other European countries? Has a single other local authority been appointed? The Minister alluded to the fact that this was happening in many European countries, but that is not the case. When one reads down the list of the various European countries, the competent authority tends to be their respective Department with responsibility for transport or an aviation agency. Does Mr. Gallagher consider that Fingal County Council is the appropriate body and has it the appropriate skills to deal with the complexities that this will entail?