Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I raised a matter on the Adjournment last week concerning difficulties which have arisen in Mayo about finalising the draft development plan in the county, as well as the ongoing exchanges between the council and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Since then, I have been inundated with correspondence from councillors in other counties, predominantly but not all from Munster, where it seems the same level of difficulty is being experienced. Can the Leader arrange for the Minister to attend the House and clarify his position regarding section 31 of the Local Government Act 2000? What does he feel are his powers and what are the powers, if any, of elected county councillors? What is the position of county managers? They now seem to be in the invidious position of having to take orders from the Minister, while at the same time being legally bound to carry out the wishes of their councillors, as expressed at county development planning stage.

Ar ábhar eile, tréaslaim le TG4 as ucht an phoiblíocht a thug an staisiún do Rásaí Lios Tuathail na mbliana seo. Bhí na cláracha úd ar fheabhas. Bhain a lán daoine — lucht na gcapall agus daoine eile nach iad — taitneamh astu. I ask the Leader to convey the thanks of the racing public to TG4 for covering live all five days of the Listowel Races last September, something which RTE——