Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

They are elected by the people but they are disenfranchising other people just down the road, that is the problem. The rezoning of Adamstown has had major influence on people in Kildare and Lucan. I was involved in the Deliver It Right campaign and Deputy Tuffy made many submissions to An Bord Pleanála on this issue. Local authorities cover specific local areas and the impact of these decisions goes far beyond them, affecting water supply in neighbouring counties, water quality, traffic issues, public transport and the sharing of scarce resources.

Sometimes the power of a Minister appointed by a democratically elected Dáil is necessary to ensure the framework is adhered to. The Minister of the day may have different views from a Green Party Minister, and may not make decisions the Green Party would like but, fundamentally, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and in that context there must be an over-arching framework. That is what it is doing. It is not taking away micro-management or the democratic input of elected local authority members, it is making sure they stick to the framework. It is like a GAA match, players can score as many points as they want within the confines of the pitch but if they stray off it, they are playing illegally. This is what the Minister is trying to do here.

See this speech in context