Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. Having served as a councillor for 12 years, I have some understanding of the role that councils play. If there is one thing they do not have much of, it is time. The Senator has proposed that there would be multiple meetings to deal with multiple projects. I do not agree. Councillors are asked to discuss and adopt a county development plan in one meeting. Councils have the ability to deal with multiple projects at any one time.

I have a lot of sympathy for the proposal put forward by Senators Boyhan and Keogan with regard to the councils' role in this and how they would feed into this process. In that regard, I am referring to amendments Nos. 15 and 16 rather than the other amendments we are discussing now. In regard to amendments Nos. 15 and 16, a reporting mechanism needs to be found, but in regard to amendments Nos. 7 and 10 and the local development plan having relevance, we all know that similar to an application for large-scale developments, an application for a one-off house must outline how it conforms with the local area plan and all of the policies within the county development plan. Anybody who has taken time to read these applications will know that they clearly identify how the project concurs with the local area plans and other plans within the relevant area, including the county development plan. On the back end of that, the planner submits a report outlining whether the development concurs with the local area plan or the county development plan. There is a clear line of communication there in regard to how any development conforms to local area or county development plans. That commentary is specifically in regard to amendments Nos. 7 and 8.

Senator Higgins raised the issue of a land zoning application which almost made its way through Dublin County Council without the councillors knowing about it. As a former councillor, as far as I am aware, land can only be zoned by councillors. No land can be zoned without councillors' approval. Where an application is made to for land to be zoned, be that as active open space, community, education, commercial or residential space, councillors have to vote on it. That is not done by the administration. I do not understand Senator Higgins's point that the application nearly went through. Anybody who has served on a local authority fully understands that the zoning of land is the remit of the public representatives of the county.