Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I welcome amendment No. 17E to provide safety information for the public when appropriate. However, Fine Gael would have preferred a more formal consultative process with local communities. In our view, we should not merely give interested persons, organisations and other bodies an opportunity to make representations, but should also be proactive in informing and consulting people and listening to what they say. Avoidable major problems arise in large development projects because local communities do not have involvement at an early stage, and thus develop a resistance to the projects later. This resistance is sometimes valid and sometime not, but can be dealt with by having an early public consultation process. While I would have preferred the amendment to go further, I welcome it nonetheless. The democratisation of the consultative element cannot be overstressed. It is crucial to a peaceful and harmonious approach to the delivery of energy in future, which is in everybody's best interests.