Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Currie’s amendment. I hope that we all recognise that we live in a world of instant communication. Everyone recognises the essential nature of telecommunications infrastructure. Like much infrastructure, though, it is planned by engineers in an abstract way based on the optimal performance of the technology. Where the tension arises is where that infrastructure intersects with our human existence.

I hope that, in the Minister of State’s response, he will be able to accept the amendment or, if the Government will not accept it, I hope the Government will advise the House on how it intends to address this issue. It is difficult for us ordinary laypeople who use and depend on this technology daily to understand why the infrastructure is not subject to the regular planning process that any of us would comply with if we were making modest extensions or amendments to our properties. What is the Government’s intention in terms of correcting that inadequacy in the process?