Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 38, line 40, to delete "after consulting" and substitute "on the recommendation of".

We must be conscious that the balance is shifting in this Bill and there is a danger that it will shift to the point where people will simply feel disengaged. A process that works very well is one where the Minister responds through recommendation rather than simply consulting. The word consulting is the most abused word in the English language. Everybody consults all the time but that does not mean that it makes a blind bit of difference. Anybody who has served on a local authority knows this. Where there is consultation after all the decisions have been made is not a productive use of anybody's time.

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