Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment. We tabled similar amendments on Committee Stage, which essentially stated the same thing. The clarity of the wording in this amendment is probably stronger.

As Senator Boyhan said, this fundamentally comes down to using the term "shall" or "will" hold a public meeting. This is a sneaky change in a Bill, which is needed. It is essentially a technical Bill for the purposes of the pandemic. We are likely to be in a situation where some local authority managers will decide not to have public meetings. We need to modernise and move online, and Zoom meetings need to be held. However, there is a value for a lot of people, in particular when they are initially engaging in the development plan process, in having a planner available who is able to describe why height and density are two different things or why something is needed in certain areas but not others.

I spent a couple of days trying to read the various planning frameworks issued by the Department going back to 2007. There are planning guidelines, frameworks and circulars. It is a very complicated area. The planners are experts in this and they know the process. In a lot of ways, this is about having expertise open to the public.

It is not the case that online meetings cannot be held; they can be held in a draughty town hall. Things might occur to people in a draughty town hall after they have seen plans. Most of us have looked at development plans. When one is looking at them on a screen, it is very difficult to zoom in on things. There are giant maps, which are not accessible through technology or on a screen. Sometimes people have to sit down and look at the different colour codes and zonings.

I ask the Minister of State to take this amendment on board. We do not want a situation whereby in future development plans, due to particular reasoning, rationale or streamlining a local authority carries out it is decided not to hold public meetings. This goes to the heart of the consultation we have in local areas and the principles of local democracy.

Successive Governments – I include my own party in them – have generally taken power away from local government. The knee-jerk reaction is to put something into the hands of the Executive and make it faster and quicker. Other European countries have much more devolved levels of local government, participation and decision-making.

We are likely to reduce what people term NIMBYism when people are involved in and understand the process and understand that a proposal does not involve a single planning application but sits within a larger framework. People will do that if they are part of the process. Sitting in a draughty town hall with a giant map and a planner who is able to explain technical terms to them is part of the process for many people.

I ask the Minister of State to take on board the one small change the Independent Group has proposed. We are on Report Stage, but the Bill has to go to the Dáil. He has an opportunity to accept the amendment. It is a small change that will not have a significant impact, but it is likely that there will be a detrimental impact in years to come if local authorities decide to stop engaging with people on a face-to-face level.