Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Higgins for tabling these amendments. While they are important, my experience has been one of openness and inclusivity with regard to development plans both in the city and county with which I am familiar but also around the country. They are important because we have other groups of people who feel marginalised.County development is important. The local authority is the planning authority and the housing authority. In many cases, it has responsibility for ports. There are many conflicting demands and pressures on a local authority, added to, of course, by public engagement. The pressure comes from citizens but it also comes from big business and many other quarters. Ultimately, councils have to make a decision for the common good in respect of proper planning and the sustainable development of the area.

I am mindful of the former Minister of State responsible for children, Ms Mary Hanafin, who produced an important public engagement booklet on engaging with young people, including young children and toddlers. In the council I was involved with, we ran a pilot scheme to engage with very young children in a constructive way. We asked them what they want. This is an important exercise. Various sports, community and religious groups were asked what their needs were. If anything, we should promote this idea because it was successful and good. Children can be asked to illustrate, in drawings, what they would ideally like in their park, be it a sandpit or a multi-user gym, or MUG, as we call it in the business. That is important. All voices should be heard.

In the past, the Traveller community has felt very marginalised. There has been considerable resistance to the placement of halting sites in appropriate locations. It is too easy to fall into the trap of pushing people out to the fringes, along the M50 or another motorway, or behind hedges and all sorts of places. That is not right. I would like a message to get through from the Department down to the chief executives and, for that matter, all our contacts on city and county councils, that engagement and consultation on the development plans should be as diverse as possible. That might require setting aside funding to identify where there are weaknesses or where people feel marginalised. I live right beside a project with which I am very familiar - a three-bay halting site for Travellers. The council took a very brave decision, contrary to what it believed to be the views of the residents, to put in a children's playground. It is one of the most successful small playgrounds. All the people in the community use it. Children do not have prejudice; they go out and play. That is really important. The decision was taken through the county development plan process, in which it was identified that facilities should be put in the heart of places. There was to be no such thing as a no-go area for a children’s playground. The gates are not locked; they are open. None of the playgrounds has been vandalised. I live very close to one. I have been there for a good many years. No element of the playground has been vandalised. That is really important to note. It is, therefore, a matter of being brave in making strategic decisions. I still believe, however, that there are groups of people who are not tapping into this process. Through schools, playschools and a variety of groups, we should consider how we can be more inclusive. As I said earlier, there is a variety of literacy and numeracy levels so it is a question of one-to-one communication and communication with small groups, in addition to tapping into the various pillars within our community to determine whether we can engage with them.

I am aware of what Senator Higgins is trying to achieve and believe it is important. On the whole, the process has been reasonably good and inclusive. Perhaps a little more encouragement and focus are required in the early stages. It does not have to be technical. People can express in very simple terms what they would like to see in their development plan. We need to embrace that.