Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is Limerick Junction but it is known as Tipperary Racecourse now. It has a great board, team and supporters club. They put together a massive €40 million development plan. There was a house for the race manager fadó fadó. He is long gone and the current occupants of the house have lodged a complaint to An Bord Pleanála. They have put in an objection. That was almost two years ago. This is vital infrastructure and development and we want to develop it into a state-of-the-art facility. There is community involvement with Knockanrawley and the Moorehaven Centre and other such activities. It has been held up and it is shocking. This is despite request after request. It has been going on for almost two years. This is not good enough. I have been contacted by many people there. Deputy O'Donoghue and I have met people there. It is on the edge of County Limerick. It is a concern and it is not good enough.

In Clonmel, the community in Baron Park are very upset and concerned about the application to site a massive 5G mast, and it has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. When the application was made, they made submissions. It went straight to An Bord Pleanála, which would not take further information from the people. They are ordinary decent residents who pay their taxes and have their houses. They are proper living people. It is beside a big nursing home and it is on the grounds of Clonmel Town soccer club. The land is owned by the county council. An Bord Pleanála rode roughshod over them. Since the application went in, three other 5G masts have gone up, including one on Emmet Street and one on the Cashel Road. Another application has got in and the late councillor Billy Shore, God be good to him, fought hard on it. It is near Clonmel Commercials in another part of town. What is going on with all the 5G masts? Does the Government want to fry the people and cook them altogether? Why do we need masts all over the town? There is ample service for broadband. I do not know what is going on that the Government wants masts all over the place.

It is very concerning. Other countries do not allow these near schools or houses but in Ireland those building masts can do what they like. The people took their case to An Bord Pleanála. The inspector came down and rejected it. First of all, south Tipperary council rejected planning permission for it. The inspector came down and did his report and rejected it fully out of hand, but the board overturned his decision. This is going on more and more. It is disgraceful. Good inspectors come out and do an honest report and the board just tears it up. That is not democratic or fair.

There is a housing development in another part of Clonmel adjacent to Connolly Park. The people living there understood the plans as one thing but the houses have been built up on top of the houses behind them, with the windows gaping into their back gardens only 1 m away from the boundary wall. This is shocking. The residents then had to get someone to take it on for judicial review.

I note that for some areas of judicial review there will be less prohibitive costs for environmental issues. This is welcome. We also have the situation with wind turbines. We have areas that are zoned as not suitable in the county development plans in Waterford and Tipperary, in my backyard. Planning applications are going in for massive turbines which are going straight to An Bord Pleanála. Recently, there was a court case which found in favour of the wind farms after An Bord Pleanála turned them down. Where is the democracy?

It is Government policy to bulldoze this in and allow these masts to go up everywhere. As I said, the situation in Clonmel will go to An Bord Pleanála so I cannot say much about that development adjacent to Connolly Park. It is near the old cash and carry opposite the old manor food factory, which was known as the Clonmel Foods factory. Development is being stalled and then the type of development people do not want is being bulldozed. It is literally being bulldozed through.

That is totally unacceptable, and it is not fair or right. There are huge issues, as I said, but An Pleanála will not deal with the issues it should deal with.

The Minister has addressed many areas in this legislation and we have not had enough time to look at them. I am interested in the streamlined judicial review. It is a very costly business and a frightening experience when people have to go to the courts. We should have an effective planning system and an effective An Bord Pleanála to enable people to get justice and ensure justice is seen to be done. It should not be the case, as I said, that phone companies are putting in these applications. The sad part about this is that they are putting these masts into all sporting clubs. These clubs are, as we know, strapped for cash. I support all of them and their commitments, whether it is Clonmel Town FC or St. Mary's or whatever. Another case involves the ground of Clonmel Celtic FC. People are infuriated by this. Money is being offered to the clubs which need this money. The clubs do not put the offer out for public consultation and tell people they are doing this. The result is a lot of angst and friction. The companies are being mean about this activity. They are coming in, putting in these planning applications and offering the carrot of funding for the clubs involved. Children are going to be playing in the fields right under these masts. There are health fears and health risks, but An Bord Pleanála does not accept these.

There are many areas in this planning legislation, which is mammoth. I do not see any restrictions being put on An Taisce, which has run riot. The organisation nearly cost us 300 good jobs in what was the Glanbia and is now the Tírlan plant in south County Kilkenny. An Taisce appealed that development all over the place, including in the courts. It went to the courts and then back in again and again. The then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, in fairness, in answer to me in the House one day, said he did not like to see what was happening. Eventually, An Taisce stopped going to the courts. It is a quango that is full of money, and there are many more of them if we were to add them all up. They have too much say and too much funding. It is costing us €6 billion in taxpayers' money annually to fund these quangos.

I hate naming people but an individual from County Cork is well known all around the country. He has objected to every farm development, all over Munster, Leinster and beyond. Some reins must be put on the likes of these people. They cannot just decide to assess a proposal online, bang in an objection and hold up the whole show. People were delighted initially with this development. Measures were put in place to mitigate climate action impacts, including the installation of extra slatted outhouses, dry yards and dry cover. Permission was eventually granted after an arduous procedure with the county council. This project was ready to go, with a contractor appointed and then, hey presto, the next thing was Mr. Sweetman submitted another objection from 100 miles away. This should not be allowed. An objector should be materially impacted. In some places, some people give the State some service. He is costing the State a fortune and has nothing else to do but sit in front of a computer and lodge objections. Farmers organised money, loans, equipment and contractors and then the whole lot was delayed. Where was the environment then? Where were our Green Party friends then? We want the farmers to take this type of action, and they want to do it, but they are not being allowed to do it because of a frivolous objection from a person living 100 miles away. This is scandalous and shocking. I do not see anything in this Bill that will deal with this type of situation. It should be totally overruled.

We had a proposal for the redevelopment of the site of the old Clonmel Arms Hotel some years ago. It had been idle for 30 years but the site has now finally been bought. Now, someone from Limerick, the Minister of State's county, has objected. That is totally wrong. Objectors should have to be materially impacted. Sine I am on the subject, I do not know what my opinion is regarding the time for county development plans being extended to ten years. Maybe seven years would be better, but the Government has increased the time to ten years. I compliment all the councillors who work in county buildings, as I have, and the county officials and people who implement the plans.

As I am on my feet, I wish a happy retirement to Councillor Michael Fitzgerald of Golden. He has given 45 years' service on Tipperary County Council.

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