Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 29 addresses an omission in the published Bill. It proposes that section 45 of the Local Government Act 2001, relating to the attendance of the media and the public at local authority meetings, shall not apply in the case of the local community development committees. Although local community development committees will be local authority committees, their role and function will differ considerably from those of other local authority committees. A significant element of the local community development committees' work will be the consideration of funding applications. This work will involve confidential and commercially sensitive matters, which would not be appropriate in the presence of the media and the public.