I raise with the Taoiseach a situation in Gortnahoo in Tipperary, where Eir is trying to construct an 18 m mast. The county council has turned down planning permission for this mast, as county councils throughout the country have done in similar cases. However, in its wisdom, An Bord Pleanála has overturned that decision. The residents in Gortnahoo want their broadband and all of that. They have offered four different sites but Eir has not even looked at them. Why are county councils spending a fortune drawing up development plans when An Bord Pleanála is overturning decisions by county councils throughout the country? Will the Minister intervene, help the likes of Gortnahoo and small villages like it and ask An Bord Pleanála to stop overturning decisions made by local authorities?

I do not believe so. Planning decisions are made by local authorities in the first instance and final decisions on appeals are made by An Bord Pleanála. The only recourse is a judicial review in the courts. I do not believe the Minister has the power to intervene.