Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This section deals with consultation with the local community. The section makes clear that consultation is not mandatory because it states that the local authority may decide to consult or hold information meetings. Consultation means different things to different people. If what we are looking at here is the type of consultation initiated by EirGrid in respect of the pylons or Dublin City Council on the incinerator at Poolbeg, consultation is not about telling people what will happen. Consultation should be about allowing people who are to be affected by decisions having an actual genuine impact on those decisions. I see nothing in the section that would satisfy me that there is a requirement for local authorities to engage in real active consultation with local communities. It needs to be beefed up.

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