John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We accepted an amendment to section 15 in the Dáil to allow for public consultation in this regard, through which the likes of the organisations that the Senator mentioned would be in a position to highlight to the elected councillors, who will be making the decision, and the council's executive the unique position that they occupy. That is different from the position of some of the other - "more professionally run" is not the right term - more business-oriented charity shop organisations. As well as being drawn up and finalised by the councillors, the alleviation scheme will be subject to public consultation in much the same way as development plans and local area plans. Members of the public and businesses can seek to feed their own stories into the final decision on policy at local government level.