Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is part 17. I am sorry; I will have a look at that.

One or two of these go beyond just making sure that Irish language titles are used. Amendment No. 17 states that competency in the Irish language would mean level B2. The reason for this is that it falls into being in some of the later amendments. In particular, amendment No. 718 in my name addresses the specifics of an oral hearing in respect of a development in the Gaeltacht in that the person who is the chairperson of that hearing must be competent in the Irish language. It would be a travesty if he or she was not. Therefore, this is about setting down in law that this is the case and that the word "competent" means something. That is why, in this instance, I have suggested that it be inserted by means of amendment No. 17.

In terms of the debate on the media, our amendment to amendment No. 13 is to ensure full accessibility for the public. In the past, the national media meant The Irish Times, the Irish Press or whatever. Sometimes, local newspapers were acceptable in this regard. In this day and age, however, newspapers they are not as cheap as the Minister seems to think. That is why people do not buy many newspapers. They get their news from other media. The problem we are facing is that many alternative online media sources are not as accessible as they were in the past when they were free to air, if you like, or freely available. There are paywalls involved now, and also in terms of the archives. There is a need to look at establishing a website similar to rip.ie, which has been bought out by The Irish Times, on which planning notices could be placed and could be fully accessible for free. Those in authority are often afraid of this because it might encourage people to look at what is happening and become serial objectors or whatever. However, there are provisions within this Bill and existing legislation to prevent that. People have a right to look at planning matters and the relevant information should be as accessible as possible. Not all county council websites where planning applications or planning notices are placed are not as accessible or user-friendly as they should be. There should be some portal to allow those who have an interest in these matters to access them, especially since we are going down the route of regional and spatial planning. We should look more at that. Sin é ar na cinn sin.

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