Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I welcome that the material will be available under the Freedom of Information Act after the Minister has made his decision. Will he publish the correspondence from the Director of the National Museum now, as this is a matter of public interest? As he is aware, the Director of the National Museum was prevented from attending the Oireachtas committee to say what he thought of this. Can the Minister be more specific as to when he will make a decision on this matter? This issue has been around since well before Christmas and I am surprised the Minister has not advanced it further than he has.

Will he acknowledge that he has discretion in the decision on whether to grant consent in respect of the M3? Will he confirm that position? I have a copy of the Act. Some of the press reports of what the Minister said, which I acknowledge may not be entirely accurate, have tended to suggest that he is giving a line that his hands are tied by the An Bord Pleanála decision and that he is a minor actor in this area. Will he confirm that the decision as to whether consents are granted in respect of the M3 are at his discretion and that should he chose to issue a direction or make a decision which is at variance with the road scheme An Bord Pleanála approved, there is a procedure in the National Monuments Act that the matter will go back to An Bord Pleanála? Rather than it being a case that the Minister is entirely in the hands of An Board Pleanála and the roads authority on this matter, the reverse is the case. It is important that the Minister would confirm that he is the decision maker on this and that the decision on the requests made by the National Roads Authority are at his discretion.

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