Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I accept that but we have some constituents to represent as well. I know the Government Deputies are hiding from them, but they will find you with the peann luaidhe istigh sa bhosca ballóide. They will find you and you will be fairly low down the list when they start using that pencil if you treat the people like this, and you will know what to expect.

We are treating the House very badly. I am not blaming the Minister of State present but I am blaming the Government as a whole. It is one piece of legislation after another with the guillotine. We had 45 minutes for a very important legislation last night. The Opposition wants to be helpful and to pass legislation, such as in the area of special needs schools, and so forth, but this is just stretching it beyond what is acceptable, and it is just incredible that the Government can do so.

On the issue of the quarries, some quarries can do what they like, such as the big conglomerates, which I will not mention, but everybody knows who we are talking about. I was an admirer of Seán Quinn for decades because he brought competition to the market with ready mix cement. When I used to travel from Omagh and Monaghan on a Monday morning, an-luath ar fad, I would meet a couple of hundred green trucks moving around and it was a breath of fresh air. What happened was a pity - if he got greedy or whatever - but he brought that badly needed competition. Most of the small ready mix owners in my county were wiped out by big conglomerates. Are we going to do the same with the small quarry owners? If there are blatant infringements, yes. They have to operate within the law. If we bring the heavy hand of the law down on top of them, the big conglomerates can wheel out best barristers and can hold the process up for a long time. This is not only happening in Ireland but is a pattern internationally. I have great concern for the jobs and for the self-employed quarry owners who have built up a business over the years and may have ten, 20 or up to 50 employees, with the cost of electricity to run the crushing plants, the cost of fuel and of everything else. If they go we will have no competition, then what will happen? We will be in real trouble.

Someone asked why we need the Office of the Planning Regulator because, in respect of the county development plans - our one in Tipperary is going to be finalised on Monday after two and a half years - the power that the county councils had in the making of the plan, through debate and discussion, is being overruled by this new office. Why do we now need to create these great and powerful positions to take away the power from the democratically elected people on the councils? It was the one power or function they had with which they dealt fairly and reasonably in most cases. Shenanigans obviously went on in the past. They were and had to be rooted out but now it has gone to one man who can do what he likes and does not have to answer to anyone. Yes, he looked to meet me several times and with several members of my group but we did not meet him. We have people now in big comfortable chairs, in nice plush offices with a brass plaque on the wall and they wield the power and have the ear of Government.

In respect of An Bord Pleanála, I will not stray into discussing it, a Cheann Comhairle, because there is an investigation going on at the moment and there could possibly be legal challenges, or whatever, but it is not functioning. A simple decision is required in New Inn in County Tipperary which is very important to people living there. There is a phone mast right on top of a house and people in the local area are objecting, and rightly so, because there are plenty of other options. It is right beside a listed building and three or four other listed buildings, including a reilig or an old graveyard, are in the curtilage of this mast.

An Bord Pleanála has postponed the decision deadline three times and although the application is still in the system, it has given no deadline as to when it may make a decision. It was a month, then it was put off for a further month or two, and a further number of months, and now it is vague and there is no decision date on the application. That is happening with many projects. An Bord Pleanála is not fit for purpose.

There is too much political influence, as Deputy Leddin alluded to. It is not transparent. We will see this when all the dirty linen is washed. If the clothes were hanging out on the line on a good summer's day like today they would be fairly well stained. They would need the washing machine and Daz or whatever is used now. They have gone away from Daz. I am not saying that I am a bad homemaker and I do not do some washing but I am not up to speed with the capsules that go into the washing machine. It used to be Surf and Daz when I was a duine óg. The Ceann Comhairle will also remember them. We have a lot of clearing up to do.

The Bill is not fit for purpose. It is emergency legislation long after the Supreme Court made its judgment. Why the rush with not enough time? I will sit and wait to see some idea of the Government amendments. Imagine we have not yet had sight of them. There will be a briefing on Monday and next week the Bill is scheduled to go to and from the Seanad to be passed. I have never seen the likes of it. How will we have time to table amendments, study the Bill, study the briefing we will get on Monday and have the resources for amendments? Anyway they will be ruled out of order, and if they are not ruled out of order the guillotine will be coming down on us like a big sharp tool to cut off all debates.

We need a re-examination. We have gone backwards with regard to debating legislation and the Opposition having an input. We have regressed during my time in the Dáil. Then we get lectures from the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach that we are bringing in reports and Private Members' motions. It is our duty. The Government was not acting. Now all of the actors have come together. It is like the opera house. We have opened again and we have 19 pieces of legislation that we are trying to get through in a mad panic. Rushed legislation is bad legislation. Justice delayed is justice denied. We are not dealing with the real issues or the elephant in the room. People must have a right to object but frivolous objections from NGOs that are well-paid with taxpayers' money and are objecting to taxpayers trying to put a roof over their heads are bonkers. It is not fair on Seán Citizen and Mary Citizen. It is not what Cathal Brugha and others fought for in the War of Independence. The Ceann Comhairle mentioned him this morning and I want to be associated with his remarks.

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