Results 2,221-2,240 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I was not the Minister. Mr. Walsh can raise that with him in a couple of minutes.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: That is poor practice. I have had the impression that it was the board that was considering cases, and I think that is also true of the ordinary five-eights whom we are here to represent in terms of value for money, given the kind of decisions the board takes and the confidence that is placed in it by people and the State. The reality in practice is that three members of the board consider...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: That is a revelation to me and I would like to think I know a little about the process.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I imagine it is a revelation to the public that we have a board that splinters due to the sheer volume of cases. It is our problem if the board does not have enough resources. While we might be meeting the rules of the game in terms of the legislation, I do not think we are meeting the spirit of the planning process in terms of the oversight we expect as consumers and the State by having...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: It does not. Could a Minister say something has to get planning and it must go ahead?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Could a Minister overrule An Bord Pleanála and say a development is to go ahead or not, as the case may be?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I appreciate that. That is what I am getting at. I know it has not been used, but I want to find out if the provision exists because I think it does.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I appreciate it has not been used and I also appreciate that it may be the practice not to use it. That is up to the Minister and the Government of the day.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I get it. I understand that; it is if there is an emergency situation. I just want to establish on the record that the Minister or Government of the day can say in an emergency situation that a scheme is to get planning or not as the case may be. We have established that. That is good. In its deliberations as a board, does An Bord Pleanála take full account of the habitats...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: In its deliberations as a board, would An Bord Pleanála take full account of Article 6.4 of the habitats directive, which is the imperative reason of overriding public interest? I am conscious that the board does not want us to discuss individual cases, so let us talk about a hypothetical case. Let us say a lake was infected with cryptosporidium and because the lake provided water to...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Would Mr. Walsh say that normally the unavailability of clean water to 13,000 families would constitute an emergency?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: If I was part of one of the 13,000 families, I would probably feel it constituted an emergency.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Okay. Let us say there is not.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I am sorry, but we are not.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Let us bring it back to the previous point. On the basis that most cases involve a board of three, if there were perhaps ten, there would be a better opportunity for somebody to state, under the imperative reasons of overriding public interest provisions, that 13,000 families were affected. An Bord Pleanála was not providing adequate scope. Its practice is to involve three persons,...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: About the specific case, I would love to ask Mr. Walsh if he did bring the file to the full board, but I appreciate that he does not want talk about it.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Mr. Walsh should feel free to tell the committee if he wants to do so.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I am only using hypothetical cases where we are talking about 13,000 families being without clean water for what could be years and wondering about the level of proactivity and the fact that, by his own admission, Mr. Walsh considered the habitats directive, in particular, Article 6(4), which deals with the imperative reasons of overriding public interest. He did not do it in one instance.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: This is my last question. I promise I will then wind up, but I have to ask this question. Did the full board consider the Irish Water application for the Lough Talt treatment plant?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of An Bord Pleanála (3 Oct 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I accept the Chairman's ruling, but may I comment on it?