Vol. 529 No. 1
830 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason for the delay in approving the proposal by Mayo County Council to extend the urban council boundary for Ballina, County Mayo. [1751/01]
The Local Government Act, 1991 empowers the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to consider boundary alteration applications and, where appropriate, to make an order extending the boundary. The first boundary alteration to go ahead in recent years. Killarney UDC was effected by way of statutory orders made by me last December. Ballina and Castlebar will be the next cases for consideration and the relevant applications are now being examined in my Department. This will take account of financial, planning and other considerations for the town local authorities concerned and the combined impact for the county council. The applications will be finalised as soon as possible.
