I asked a question earlier to which the Minister of State might give us some advice regarding the aspect concerning the executive. I made a point about which there seems to be some misunderstanding. There is no discretion for a county councillor to suggest to the chief executive how he or she conduct the development plan at the first stage. It is the executive plan.

I have the floor and that is correct.

Thank you, Acting Chairman. People are shaking their head and saying it is not true, so I ask the Minister of State to confirm this now. It is important, as there seems to be some misunderstanding in the House. Under section 11 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, it is the function of nobody else but the council's chief executive or his or her executive team to make a decision or determination on a public meeting. That needs to be confirmed because there seems to be some misunderstanding in that regard. In th…

We should allow the conversation. I do not like this idea of calling a halt to the debate. Let us look-----

It is just after 3.50 p.m. That is significant because we will get the minutes of these meetings from the reporters. I do not know about the Acting Chairman, but I heard what Senator Fitzpatrick said and I will produce the transcript before the close of business today or tomorrow. I know what I hear and Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about calling a halt to the debate.

It is only a term-----

What did the Acting Chairman mean when he said he knew what I was up to? That is important. It is not an appropriate remark to make. We will not debate what people said here and now for these few minutes because that will be fact within a matter of hours. I will be standing here on the Order of Business tomorrow and I am happy-----

It is not a threat.

I wish to make this clear. We will know what everyone said when we have the Official Report on this meeting. To reiterate, nobody is egging it. We are in a Parliament where we can have free speech and a robust debate. That is the reality of it. If people do not like it, they can leave or they can get up and counteract it. That is fair enough. That is politics. I take on board and agree with Senator Seery Kearney's point about public meetings. Most councillors and, indeed, Deputies, hold public meetings about issues…

I agree with Senator Cummins. My experience with county development plans has always been a relatively positive one, and I have dealt with three. I do not believe anybody would set out deliberately to curtail anybody, but the reality is that we can only deal with the words in the Bill. The Bill clearly states it is to be replaced. The mandatory requirement on the city and county council chief executives is now gone. Somebody thought this up and thought it was reasonable to change it. As Senator McDowell said, it wa…

I do not know where Senator Higgins is coming from but I want to speak in favour of the council executive. It has always engaged and encouraged participation and I have never experienced any curtailment or limits to that engagement. I know Members referred to people as being potentially difficult and maybe I am considered difficult but I engaged in the local development plan, both as a local councillor and as a citizen, which is a distinction I always draw. I always made submissions as a citizen and I continue to d…

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 …

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, indicated to us the other day, I believe in respect of section 3 but I am not 100% sure on that, that the Green Party had been in touch and that there was a proposal to bring forward another amendment. Would the Minister of State be aware of another amendment to the Bill? I believe it dealt with section 3.

Was it section 2?

I thank the Minister of State for clarifying that.

Amendment No. 1 has been ruled out of order.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.