John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

They are difficult to determine because an individual can get another person to do it on their behalf. I have no doubt this happens but proving it in law may be difficult. This point has been made repeatedly to me but it is difficult to deal with it in legislation.

The Deputy is correct that a template would be helpful to applications, streamlining the process and pointing out any potential pitfalls. Some local authorities provide this but, again, it is a question of getting consistency between the various authorities.

Concerning engineers making applications on behalf of gullible people, one cannot legislate for gullibility. I do not know why an engineer would be putting in an application. I would have thought an architect or a planner would be far better qualified to do that.

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