John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because we have been around the House three times on this. For clarity, I was not suggesting for a second that if I, in my previous guise as chair of the planning strategic policy committee, SPC, in Waterford, were to ask the executive to attend a meeting that I organised, it would attend. I was saying that if I requested it to hold a public meeting, the council would do so.

To return to the point Senator Fitzpatrick made, this is not about trying to stifle or truncate the process in this regard. It is in the interests of both councillors and the executive to engage with the public about a development plan. Not only do the executive and councillors expect to consult the public but they take pride in doing so. If we are suggesting in the Seanad that the executive would take it upon itself not to hold a public meeting about a development plan for some unknown reason that has not been elaborated here, it is untrue. I genuinely believe that would not occur. It has not occurred. It is in everyone's interest to engage with the public.

As I said, during the pandemic Waterford City and County Council received 284 written submissions to its pre-draft plan. It engaged in a consultation process administered online. It also offered one-on-one meetings with the public if anybody wished to come to council and engage in a face-to-face process in the customer service office, with perspex glass in a safe manner. Nobody took it up, but the offer was made. We must put faith and trust in our local authorities in this matter. They believe in community engagement. I do not believe there is a hidden agenda in any executive in the country to try to stifle and truncate public debate and consultation on development plans.