Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It should never be the thrust of the Department to stop people from undertaking development. There are always reasons. I do not know the reasons in this case. I will have a chat with the officials. It is a two-way process. As public representatives, people often come to us to complain about how long the public service is taking to do something. There are always procedures to be followed. If the procedures are not being followed, that is a different issue. I would not like to stand over a situation in which locals are frustrated. In most instances, they are voluntarily trying to do good things to help the community, to boost employment creation and develop the tourism industry in their local areas. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, about this matter before responding to the Senator. If what she says is true, I think we need to address the issue. I am not saying anything for definite. We will discuss it with the officials and see what the situation is.