Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

I recognise that the Minister has included the local community in amendment No. 43 in subsection (3)(b). In preparing a draft of the strategic plan, the agency shall consult a number of agencies. The Minister is now including the local community in the list that strangely included everything from the Railway Procurement Agency to the IDA and so on and omitted the local residents. Is this not in conflict with section 11(1) which reads:

The Agency shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, prepare a plan.... for the strategic development of the Grangegorman site in consultation with...?

That section excludes any reference to the local community. If the Minister proposes to amend subsection (3)(b) to include the local community, why not amend the opening statement to give the local residents the same standing as the DIT, the Northern Area Health Board, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Minister? I do not understand the omission in the opening statement and the inclusion further on in the section. I ask the Minister to examine this aspect.

The amended version appears to consign the residents to a lesser role in subsection (3)(b) when the opening statement refers to consultation but does not refer to the local residents and local community. As it makes no sense to me, I would be grateful for the Minister's response on that point.

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