Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister back to the House. This appears to be a sensible amendment and follows the discussions we had here at an earlier sitting of the House. I have two questions for the Minister. First, in the text that is being amended, the word "or" will now disappear. The original text included the words "public bus service will operate, or". It then went into paragraph (c) to state "examining any other matter that it deems to be relevant". Is there any particular reason why that change has been made?

Second, does the Minister have in mind any timings within which he expects the input to come back from local authorities? It is a good improvement to seek the input of local authorities in this regard. It is vital, however, that the whole procedure happens in a timely manner and that the slow delivery of input from any particular body should not get in the way of a decision being made on this matter.