Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I strongly support these amendments. In particular, the meeting as described will add immensely to the quality of the decisions being made and, crucially, to the outcome in terms of the quality of the residential developments that emerge from the process. It is not sufficient that individual representative members of the authority might be able to put in submissions. It is crucial that there would be, as Senator Boyhan has eloquently described, that kind of constructive discussion in public which allows things to be teased out and which allows sometimes very different but equally useful perspectives to be put alongside each other in regard to a project. Then, of course, there is the complementary amendment that it would be reflected in the LRD opinion and would enter the process.

These amendments would be very positive. First, they would lead to better outcomes and better decisions, and would lead to a more effective process with fewer challenges at the other end. I also think they would go a long way towards rebuilding the confidence of local authority members, who have felt very sidelined by the processes and who have felt at times pushed to the margins in regard to crucial decisions. When people do not have confidence in the local authority members they elect being able to really influence decisions that are very important and to express the local public's views in regard to issues and translate that upwards, it kind of diminishes confidence in democracy. We have seen a huge amount of this. It is a sad trend and there are many other issues that factor into it. We have seen that many local authority members are quitting. We are not retaining them.People who are passionate and run for local election because they care about an area and they want to help shape it become frustrated for a number of different reasons. One such reason is that because they are not seen they are unable to have that input and that expression that inspired them to run for office. There are multiple benefits to accepting the amendments put forward by Senators Boyhan, Craughwell, Keogan and others. There are benefits in terms of confidence in our local electoral and political systems, transparency, local information and insight into the decisions that are made and, ultimately, for the very small amount of time that it might take to have that one meeting on a particular project, better outcomes and more likelihood of the project being successful in terms of it being built and moving forward and successful in terms of it genuinely contributing to the place in which it is located.