Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have dealt with this issue before, but I want to be absolutely up-front with the House on it. As we said last night, the letter was written in 2017. It was well known to everybody that there was a discussion ongoing on the relative merits of Fingal County Council, the Commission for Aviation Regulation, the Environmental Protection Agency and anybody else. The letter expressed very sincere and perfectly legitimate concerns about Fingal County Council. The concerns were part of a discussion in which everybody was involved, publicly and privately. My officials were engaged intensively in discussions with all three of the main candidates and looking at other alternatives. When the issues arose, the issue of a conflict of interest which has been raised by everybody here was referred to one place, the Office of the Attorney General. That is the correct thing to do when such issues arise. The Office of the Attorney General which had rejected the Irish Aviation Authority as being conflicted came back and stated specifically that Fingal County Council would be given the all-clear. That is what happened.

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