Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let me finish. That is a serious issue. We have too many of these intermediary officers and yet nobody is accountable. When the councillors made the plan, it was one of the only functions they had. They made the plan eventually and often got stick over it. Some may have lost their seats over it but they made it in good faith. It was the accepted plan. When people come to see me in my clinic about a planning matter, I ask them where they live and always try to send them a copy of the guidelines in that area. That was the plan. It will be a case now of shifting sands. The plan will be able to be overridden by the regulator and the Minister of State seems to be suggesting that the Minister will have some engagement as well. We are making the process too cumbersome and are interfering with a sacrosanct document, which is the county development plan approved by the members after lengthy discussion and input from them. I am not happy with this.

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