Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I agree that members of local authorities face considerable pressures, the reason being that we have vested in local councillors the right to make decisions on these matters in an open, transparent and democratic manner. It is a matter for each individual councillor to make moral and ethical decisions. The Deputy stated that councillors should not be pressurised to give a commitment regarding a forthcoming planning decision. I am not certain it is legally practical to require a councillor not to indicate what is his or her view on a planning decision.

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