Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I move amendment No. 37:

In page 7, between lines 45 and 46, to insert the following:

"(5) Applicants shall, following receipt of a notice under section 37(B)(1)(a), erect this notice on red paper, alongside the planning application site notice, in accordance with the relevant provisions of Planning and Development Regulations, as amended by section of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006.".

The purpose of these amendments is to ensure where a project is fast tracked through this rather rapid process that the public know what is going on. I am concerned that these hugely important projects which will have the possibility of massively changing the face of a neighbourhood will not be known to the general public and to those who adjoin the development. While I appreciate that regulations may follow that provide for detailed site notices and newspaper notices we have no guarantee that will happen or that the Minister will bring these regulations before the House prior to their implementation. It is a lacuna in the parliamentary process and it is incumbent on those of us in Opposition to put forward formal proposals for a methodology by which the public will be consulted on these proposals. I propose, therefore, that a new site notice, coloured red, is erected for these strategic infrastructural projects to ensure there is more public consultation than might be the case.

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