Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is the point I was going to make. There have been a number of infrastructural developments in our area, some relating to decisions about wind farms. Local communities are up in arms because they felt that the consultation process was not adequate. Another issue arose in our area about a greenway on which there was a consultation process but people felt it was not adequate and not everybody was put on notice of that or made aware of it. There is huge pressure on communities in that type of scenario in that they are told the development is essential and that it has to be forced through even if it is detrimental to certain people in the communities. I want to put that on the record.

I am not convinced by the Minister's argument. I will not press the amendment but I will oppose the section based on the arguments we put forward. I am sure it is a political disagreement but we believe the case being put forward to bypass that democratic scenario where the councillors have an input into the process is not the pressure point. There are other issues and we would like to keep that democratic role for the local authorities.