Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's reply. I think he will agree with me that it is intolerable that local authorities and regional road design offices work in a vacuum in designing roads for which An Bord Pleanála refuses permission. We saw this happen in Adare and other parts of the country. The problem does not arise only at preplanning consultation stage but when permission is refused by An Bord Pleanála and the board does not engage with the local authority or the road design office, with the result that they continue to work in Limbo and cannot anticipate the problem in a redesign. Vast sums of Exchequer money are rightly going into projects around the country at the design stage and it is essential to engage in preplanning consultation. One would not build a house without engaging in preplanning consultation with one's local authority, but it is expected that one can be allowed to build roads without doing so. I will bring forward an amendment to the Roads Bill. Will the Minister liaise with his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in advance of its being taken? I would like to work with the Minister and the officials in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on the amendment.

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