Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very clear with the Taoiseach. This is not a delay. This High Court decision has taken away the powers the State gave to every council in the country in 1949. Is that clear enough for the Taoiseach? What is he going to do about that?

I will be clear on the second assertion I made. The Taoiseach is closer to the Attorney General than I am. I do not get to talk to him or to the Chief State Solicitor's office. I asserted that they had joined, or had threatened to join, with an environmental pillar in a case. It is much easier for the Taoiseach to talk to those people than it is for me. Will the Taoiseach find out whether this is true? This was a case taken against a council at a time when that council was taking the lead and undertaking a pilot project to try to resolve an issue when people, including elderly people, were in danger of losing their houses. One of them has actually lost their house. In fairness to the OPW, it had put in diggers to do the work at that time. One arm of the State here in Dublin was threatening to join with an environmental pillar while the council, another arm of the State, and the OPW were trying to do the job. How can you get work done when the State is functioning in that way? Will the Taoiseach look into that? Will he also bring to the Cabinet a proposal to resolve this situation? This is not only about stuff on my back door. It will also happen in five or six other parts of the country within the next two years.

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