Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 12 proposes the deletion of the proposed new subsection 31(12) which would remove the selection criteria for the inspector to be appointed by the Minister to report to him or her on the draft direction. There must be an over-arching criteria which would determine if a person is experienced and qualified to act as an inspector for the purpose of reporting to the Minister on planning and development issues. Without such selection criteria, the inspector's report would not have credibility and it could be open to challenge. Therefore, the amendment is not accepted.