Dáil Éireann debate -
Friday, 26 Jun 2015

Vol. 884 No. 3

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members]

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I thank the Minister of State for his presence in the House. At the outset, I would like to address the way in which the House orders and does its business. The legislation was drafted about this time last year in response to a particular fiasco that had developed. It has taken 12 months to reach the floor of the House, which says a lot about the way we do our business. The legislation was proposed to deal with a matter which was pertinent at that time. Since the event has now passed, the Bill could be seen as somewhat irrelevant. Nonetheless, it is still important that we address the matter.

The Minister of State will recall the cancellation of the five Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park as the result of a decision by Dublin City Council not to grant a licence for three additional concerts. The decision impacted greatly on the 400,000 people who had purchased tickets to attend the event. It also impacted on Ireland's tourism product, as 70,000 tickets had been sold outside the State and people were due to travel from many different jurisdictions across Europe, North America and further afield to attend what they believed would be a spectacular event. They had booked hotels and paid for their tickets. In my view, the decision by the council had a very damaging impact on Ireland's reputation as a tourism and event destination.

The residents rightly raised concerns about the potential impact of the concerts on their lives. The fiasco revealed a lack of certainty in the legislation. I do not believe the legislation as it currently stands adequately addresses all the potential concerns in respect of outdoor events of this nature. Nor do I believe that the proposals that the Government has brought forward adequately address the problem.

The Minister, Deputy Kelly, assured us at the time that he would begin a process of consultation with all stakeholders, community leaders, event promoters, venue owners, etc., to bring forward a set of proposals to ensure something like this could never happen again. It seems to me that the guidelines announced by him and the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, in the last couple of days are a hastily put-together response in the knowledge that this Bill, published last year, would be discussed in the House today. The changes in regulation are really all based on a pre-consultation discussion between the promoter and the relevant local authority. It is possible to study the transcripts of the meetings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport.

When the interested parties came before us and gave their evidence, it was clear a number of pre-application consultations had taken place between Aiken Promotions, Dublin City Council and Croke Park. The representatives of Croke Park, Aiken Promotions and Dublin City Council accepted the planning authority had indicated to the promoter and venue owner that five concerts would be possible. The Minister of State knows from a planning point of view that pre-consultation and pre-planning meetings are usually careful in their deliberations, because until such time as the entire application is lodged and the process complete it is not a certainty. A pre-consultation prior to the lodging of an application will not give certainty to the promoter, the ticket purchaser or the venue owner. What the Government has done is just tinkering around the edges. No effort has been made to put in place a comprehensive plan for the licensing of outdoor events.

My Bill, in the absence of an appropriate framework for licensing outdoor events which would provide certainty for all concerned, sought to give the Minister powers effectively to provide a licence. The Bill is about conferring powers on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to grant a licence for events in exceptional circumstances. The Bill states:

Where a licence has been refused under section 231 by a local authority or where a local authority has granted a licence subject to conditions, the Minister may, if he deems it appropriate and believes the event is of national and cultural importance, review the decision of the local authority and may grant a licence or remove conditions imposed by the local authority provided that—

(a) the Minister notifies persons and bodies which must be consulted in relation to a licence that he is reviewing the local authority’s decision,

(b) the Minister gives the persons and bodies which must be consulted in relation to the grant of a licence 7 days within which to make submissions.

The Minister would make a decision based on the national or international importance of the event and its considerable benefit to the State.

I am still at a loss as to why the Government has not put in place the appropriate legislative framework. The Garth Brooks fiasco to which this legislation sought to respond could easily happen again under the changes the Government is making. If a promoter were to enter into a discussion through a pre-consultation process with a local authority and receive the same assurances or same type of tacit support or acceptance of the proposal as was given to Aiken Promotions and Croke Park by Dublin City Council at the time we could still end up in the same situation, whereby four weeks prior to the event taking place permission for the licence could ultimately be refused, creating exactly the same scenario of which we are aware.

The period of time for lodging an application has been extended from ten weeks to 13 weeks. I remind the Minister of State with regard to the Garth Brooks event that Aiken Promotions submitted the licence application 14 weeks prior to the date of the first concert. The Minister of State knows the impact of the decisions taken then were economically assessed to have cost the city and the region around Dublin approximately €50 million in lost revenue due to the cancellation of these events. Unfortunately, in my view the proposals the Government has brought forward this week will in no way prevent this happening again and give no certainty whatsoever.

The regulations do not provide for an appeals mechanism, despite an attempt by the Department to suggest otherwise. There is no independent review of event licensing decisions which will take into account the impact of the decisions made locally and in the wider community. The Government now suggests that a decision by a local authority to grant or not a licence four weeks prior to an event allows for the normal statutory process of a judicial review. We all accept a judicial review has no real powers in this regard and it does not give any further assistance or help to those who either promote such an event or assist the venue holders in offering their services. The new regulations announced by the Government will in no way resolve the issue.

In future, event promoters will not be allowed to sell tickets before consulting local authorities. This is pre-consultation. If they have a conversation and there is tacit acceptance by the local authority the event should go ahead, they can go ahead and sell the tickets which they must do to ensure a demand for them in the first instance. This still gets us back to where we were at the outset.

In attempting to find a resolution it was my expectation the Department would have drafted legislation to ensure certainty about each particular venue in the State. Without requiring planning permission, Croke Park can host three major events in a year, as is the case with the Aviva Stadium, but none of the other potential locations in the country has access to this facility. I would have thought the best way to resolve this and ensure such an event never happens again would be to draw up a framework by which venues could apply for the issuance of a licence in perpetuity detailing a number of events per year. This happens in other countries. Thomond Park in Limerick, Nolan Park or another stadium as part of an ongoing process could apply for and be granted a set number of events of particular size and scale on an annual basis and have this in perpetuity. If this were in place and was part of the solution we would go a long way towards resolving the problem.

Promoters have a particular difficulty with the licensing regime as it exists because they are trying to attract international acts and compete with other countries. They also compete with other events taking place in these stadia. It is a difficult challenge for them to attract these acts which are of significant benefit to the State in terms of economic activity and attracting tourism, and unfortunately the proposals brought forward by the Minister of State will not resolve or give any certainty to those people attempting to develop this business.

The proposals the Minister of State has brought forward do not resolve the issue. They give more lead time and perhaps assist through the consultation process, but we still need a detailed appeals mechanism. On this basis will the Minister of State give consideration to accepting the Bill I published almost a year ago, and allow the Department and the Minister to have powers in special circumstances to overturn a decision by a local authority in the interests of the economic activity of the region and the State in general?

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Paudie Coffey)

I thank Deputy Dooley for bringing forward this Private Members' Bill and acknowledge it is well-intentioned in its aim to address some of the issues the Deputy has outlined which occurred last year with regard to the fiasco to which he referred. It gives me an opportunity to set out the Government's position and I am happy to debate it with the Deputy. The response to it from the Government is all about striking the balance in licensing large-scale events. I am happy to outline this in more detail in my response.

Deputy Dooley's Bill, which essentially proposes amendments to the event licensing provisions in the Planning and Development Act, is short and succinct and comprises two main elements. It proposes that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government can review and overturn the decision of a local authority regarding an event licence application if the Minister deems the event is of national or cultural importance. It also proposes that the Minister can remove conditions attached by a local authority to an event licence.

Second, it proposes that the Minister can remove conditions attached by a local authority to an event licence.

The Bill is silent on the meaning of the term "events of national or cultural importance". I would have liked to see more detail on that definition.

Deputy Dooley's Bill is a repeat of a Private Members' Bill tabled last year on the same subject, and we all know the background to this Bill, as has been explained to the House. It relates to issues that arose in relation to the granting of event licences at Croke Park last year, specifically the number of events that could be held at the venue over the period of a calendar year.

The 1993 planning permission for the redevelopment of Croke Park allows for the holding of three special events, such as concerts, per calendar year subject to the approval of an event management plan by Dublin City Council. Any further events in excess of this number require the submission of an event licence application by the promoters of the events to Dublin City Council. I note that the Deputy mentioned Thomond Park and other venues. The Aviva Stadium and Thomond Park have planning permission for three specific events by condition.

The problems that arose last year occurred when, after three events had already been held at Croke Park under the terms of its planning permission, an application for a licence for further events on five consecutive nights in July was submitted. This was exacerbated by the advertising and selling of tickets for all five nights prior to the submission of the application for the necessary event licences. Even though Dublin City Council subsequently granted a licence for three of the five additional concerts, the promoter and artist in question eventually cancelled the concerts for all five nights, leaving many people who had purchased tickets disappointed. As Deputy Dooley acknowledged, it was also a huge blow to the economy.

Dublin City Council cited a number of reasons for its decision to grant a licence for three of the nights applied for. These included: the scale and number of concerts proposed; the anticipated attendance of in excess of 80,000 people per night over five consecutive nights, which would be unprecedented for Croke Park; the fact that the stadium is located in a heavily populated residential area; and also that holding concerts on five consecutive nights, in addition to the three that had already been held, would represent an over-intensification of the use of the stadium, imposing an unfair burden and level of disruption on local residents.

Moving on to the specific content of Deputy Dooley's Bill, I note that the planning system has been modified in recent decades to specifically preclude political interference or involvement in planning-related decisions. As we all know, political interference in the planning system has in the past caused many problems, leading among other things to long and costly tribunals, and it is important that we do not return to those times. In this regard, section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 specifically precludes the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government from exercising any power or control in any particular case with which a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, is or may be concerned. In proposing to bring the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government back into the planning decision-making process, albeit only in relation to event licences, Deputy Dooley's Bill runs contrary to these section 30 provisions which have established an important principle that political interference in the planning system should no longer be allowed. We have moved on from this and we should not be returning to past practices.

In addition, conditions attaching to event licences are generally concerned with public safety issues and mitigating against possible risks, including securing the safety of those attending the venue, maintaining public order, noise and traffic management, and the minimisation of disruption to the neighbourhood in which the event is to be held. Such matters, which are dealt with by way of conditions attached to licences, are most appropriately dealt with at local level by local authorities in consultation with the principal response agencies, while also having regard to the views of local residents, and should not involve the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Arising from the events of last year, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, announced a comprehensive review of the event licensing legislative regime with a view to preventing this type of scenario from happening again, establishing a review group for this purpose comprising representatives of all relevant stakeholders. The review group conducted its deliberations over the period October 2014 to March 2015 and submitted recommendations to the Minister and me in April, following which I signed new amending event licensing regulations just last week, which will come into effect on 1 October this year.

The main changes incorporated in the new regulations include that it will now be mandatory for event promoters to have a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority prior to submitting an event licence application. Event licence applications will not be accepted by a local authority unless a pre-application consultation meeting has already taken place with the event promoter. Event promoters will not be entitled to advertise or sell tickets for events prior to the holding of a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority. Event licensing applications must be lodged with the relevant local authority at least 13 weeks in advance of the proposed event. Local authorities must make their decision on an event licence application no later than four weeks in advance of the proposed event. Where it is proposed to add performances to a schedule already announced, a further pre-application consultation meeting will be required to take place before the announcement of any additional dates.

Deputy Dooley is calling for more certainty and clarity and a better understanding. The fact that event promoters will not be entitled to advertise or sell tickets before a pre-application consultation meeting is a positive advance. It is a clear indication to promoters that a better understanding of the local authority's position can be secured at those meetings before advertising and selling tickets, which is what caused much of the hurt last year. These are improvements that will be welcomed generally. The new regulations, which were signed into law just last week, are intended to make the event licensing system more streamlined and fit for purpose, while also bringing greater order and certainty to the process for all parties involved. I am confident that the new regulations will prevent the type of scenario that arose last year from happening again and, accordingly, I oppose Deputy Dooley's Private Members' Bill.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Derek Keating)

The next speaker is Deputy Stanley, who has just stepped outside for a moment.

Deputy Brian Stanley

We are all aware of the controversy that arose last year in relation to the proposed Garth Brooks concerts at Croke Park which ran into difficulties with local residents. That led to Dublin City Council imposing conditions limiting the number of concerts, among other things, with which the promoters of the event were dissatisfied, and it was cancelled. While I am not dismissing the concerns of the residents, much concern was voiced about the incident. Not only did it have an impact on people who had bought tickets and were disappointed at the cancellation, including people from overseas, but it also had considerable economic consequences in respect of cancelled hotel bookings and the overall level of spending that such an event would have generated, including from overseas visitors.

I can see where the proposals outlined in this Bill are coming from. However, I have some concerns regarding how it might impact on the democratic decision making of local authorities. The elected members of local authorities should have more power in respect of such matters than they do at present. Currently, city and county managers are able to make decisions not only without having to take account of the views of local elected representatives, who legally constitute the council, but often against their express wishes.

Regarding the Garth Brooks concerts, Dublin city councillors had to resort to tabling emergency motions to attempt to influence the conditions under which the licence for the events was being granted by the council planners. There should surely be a more democratic and transparent manner of making such decisions so that there would be no need for ministerial intervention as proposed in this Bill.

There have been issues in local authorities around the country in which similar disregard was shown to the views of elected representatives. Those of us who have come through the local authority system have all experienced that. In Dublin we had a situation a few years ago in which there was significant cross-party opposition, including from the Government parties, on the city council to a waste incinerator.

That opposition was totally ignored and a decision was taken by the city manager to go ahead with the project.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has considerable power. We have seen what the Minister has done in the past 24 hours and what both the Minister and the Minister of State are capable of, or what the Labour Party and Fine Gael are capable of.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

Who told the Deputy about that?

Deputy Brian Stanley

We will be taking them down that route next week.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

Is that a threat?

Deputy Brian Stanley

The Minister has used his powers to override the wishes of the democratically elected councils-----

Acting Chairman (Deputy Derek Keating)

I ask the Deputy to address the Chair.

Deputy Brian Stanley

I will speak through the Chair. I refer to a recent example which impacted on my own county when a vote by Westmeath County Council regarding the conditions for the building of a massive wind farm was over-ruled by the then Minister of State, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan. She was able to do so under the critical infrastructure legislation which allows An Bord Pleanála and the Minister to over-rule planning objections and any decision by local authorities if the proposed project is deemed to be of vital economic or strategic importance. Given that legislation is in existence, it should have been amended to return power over vital planning issues to local councils, which was proposed by Sinn Féin in its wind farm Bill. I would be dubious about a proposal such as this which would further diminish the power of democratically elected local councillors. Such powers are the bedrock of any democracy and democratic system, which we should never forget. We have weak local government. The significant reform of local government introduced last year has some potential. I would like to see that reform expanded into other areas. Unfortunately, the Minister has removed significant powers from local authorities, as did the previous Government, which is regrettable.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

We gave them more powers.

Deputy Brian Stanley

However, there is an opportunity to give back some power to councillors as this was provided for in the Act passed last year. I would welcome a debate on that issue to see how this can be achieved. In general, Sinn Féin supports it.

I am also interested to know what might give grounds for the need for the Minister to intervene in the case of proposed events. I presume that the proposer has in mind the circumstances surrounding the Garth Brooks concerts. However, there are surely circumstances where such an intervention by a Minister might not only over-ride the decision of local planners but also might cause upset among local people who may have genuine objections to such an event. Is it the case that the Minister would define what he would determine the national importance of the event, as referred to in section (2)(c), as something that was perhaps popular among people planning to attend but not with those living close to the venue, as in the case of the Croke Park concerts? There could be situations where, for instance, an open air event was to be held over the space of a number of days thus causing concern among local residents. Is this Bill proposing that if the local authority with the support of democratically elected representatives decided that the planning application did not contain sufficient guarantees on various grounds, the Minister should be able to intervene and over-rule that decision? This is a matter of concern.

I live in County Laois which hosts a number of major annual events, such as the ploughing championships which is attended by approximately 250,000, with some estimates at more than 300,000, over three days, as well as the Electric Picnic event and a number of other large events. These events are handled very well in co-operation with the local authority and the councillors have an input. I would like them to have an increased input. However, it goes to show that these issues can be resolved. I agree that the area around Croke Park has high density housing and population and it is necessary to be sensitive in those circumstances. I think we need to be very careful about moving powers away from local authorities and handing the Minister such powers. In the case of the situation in Dublin, the council chamber was the place to iron out many of these difficulties where the people elected to represent the different communities around Croke Park could have had a greater input. We need to be careful about handing over such powers to Ministers.

We need to be cautious about creating a situation where legitimate objections on the part of local planners, local representatives and local communities could simply be ignored because a proposed event was likely to bring economic benefits. I would prefer a situation where local planning for such events is made much more transparent and involves greater consultation with the community with a final decision resting with the elected councillors. I believe that this would ensure that the optimum conditions would be imposed on such events in the interest of the community and those attending them. It would also prevent a small number of people who might be living right beside a venue having a veto as the council would reflect the interests of the community in general. The councillors in the north Dublin area would represent the broader interests of the wider community, including residents and businesses.

In my view the provisions in the Planning Act relating to major events need to be updated. On that basis, I support the passing of Second Stage of this Bill, so it can move to Committee Stage where it could be amended to ensure that we have better legislation governing these events. I will be drafting a planning Bill on behalf of Sinn Féin-----

Deputy Paudie Coffey

The Deputy is supporting the intervention of the Minister.

Deputy Brian Stanley

-----to address a number of issues in the planning area. We have concerns about giving such powers to Ministers because we have seen the way they can abuse them. In general we recognise the need to update the legislation which we hope will move to Committee Stage.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Paudie Coffey)

I thank the Deputies for their submissions. I am a bit puzzled by Deputy Stanley's position in that he spoke for ten minutes about his opposition to the ministerial power to intervene with regard to planning conditions for events, which is the main plank of this Bill, but he then states he will support the Bill. I am unsure as to his position; it is a bit too complex for me to understand.

I thank Deputy Dooley for raising this matter, which he has done with good intentions and which I acknowledge. I refer to what occurred in Croke Park with regard to the Garth Brooks concerts, the fiasco that followed, the hurt it caused to many stakeholders, especially those who had purchased tickets, the local residents and everyone who was up in arms at the time. It was acknowledged that a further review of the licensing regulations was necessary. A deep consultation process was undertaken and I was happy to sign off on amendments to those regulations last Friday. These will bring greater clarity and extended notice to those involved in the licensing of large scale events in this country. It is an important step because a mandatory pre-consultation meeting must be held with the relevant local authority and no tickets can be advertised or sold prior to that pre-consultation meeting. This is the main change to the regulations which the Government has provided.

We are aware that there is a need to strike a balance between the rights of residents and the due process associated with any event licensing applications. I think the balance has been struck and the regulations will bring greater certainty to promoters, to performers, to those people interested in attending concerts and to the residents of the area.

Conditions for event licensing are generally issues referring to public safety, the maintenance of public order, noise and traffic management. As I outlined, these matters are conditions attached to licences and are most appropriately dealt with by the local authorities in consultation with the principal response agencies involved at the time of major event planning. These include the Garda Síochána, the emergency services, the local authority, traffic management officials, the HSE and many others involved in the background planning for safe and secure large scale events. The views of the local residents are regarded as very important.

They can be reflected by the public representatives who represent those areas appropriately at that level. Therefore, it is obvious to me that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government should not become an arbiter on such issues. I believe we have learned - I certainly hope we have learned - from the events of the past year and I certainly do not want to see them repeated, as I am sure Deputies opposite do not.

The new event licensing regulations that I signed into law last week, which emanated from the work of the review group that was mandated to make recommendations for appropriate changes to the legislation, will provide greater certainty to the whole event licensing process. Some minor problems will always arise in this area. For example, we witnessed the cancellation of a music festival in Killarney this weekend due to poor ticket sales. It is not possible to provide for every eventuality in legislation. I am confident that the new regulations are balanced and reasonable and constitute a genuine approach aimed at preventing the type of scenario we saw last year from being repeated.

I thank the Deputy. This was an interesting, appropriate and topical debate and it is an issue we should keep under review and evaluation. I look forward to seeing how the new regulations will improve the process for all stakeholders.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I thank the Minister of State for his comments. I wish to put in context the reason the Bill was published. Its purpose was to deal with the crisis at the time and to try to resolve a problem that was particularly acute. I thought, in light of what happened, that the Government would carry out a detailed analysis of the entire licensing regime for open-air events or events of that nature at large venues. It was my expectation that there would be a much more comprehensive framework for the issuing of licences. The Minister of State commented about meddling in planning matters and not wanting to go back to the past. We all recognise that. The facts of the matter are such that the licensing of such events cannot be confused with the poor planning decisions taken through political interference in the past.

I had expected that the Government would introduce proposals for complete separation of the issuing of licences for such events from the Planning and Development Act and would examine the possibility of controlling such events in a completely different manner. If that were to happen, there might be no need for my Bill. However, the Minister has allowed the issuing of licences to remain within the remit of the Planning and Development Act. He has not really changed the mechanism; he has only tinkered around with the dates. He is insisting on pre-consultation discussion meetings involving planners, venue owners and promoters before a concert can be advertised or tickets sold. The fact of the matter is that, during the planning for the Garth Brooks event, all of these things happened. The then county manager at Dublin City Council implied to the promoters and the venue owners that, in principle, the five concerts would get the go-ahead. Other things happened afterwards. There was involvement by local residents, and the decision to refuse permission was based on the facts available to the planners at the time. In my reading of what the Minister of State is suggesting, there is nothing there that would resolve the issues that surrounded the Garth Brooks concert if it were to happen again. There are few enough acts in the world that would require five nights in Croke Park, so this is an exceptional set of circumstances that does not raise its head too often. In my view, there is no mechanism to deal with such an eventuality.

I hope the Government will look seriously at addressing the entire licensing regime and consider the venue rather than the event. Deputy Brian Stanley mentioned the National Ploughing Championship and other such events. If an event that takes place somewhere in County Laois or Clare has an established capacity and the planners know the numbers attending and the structures, a licence should be granted for that particular style of event at that location in perpetuity. Certain metrics should be put on the event, including upper limits on the number of people who can attend and the number of such events in a year. That gives certainty to the residents, the venue owner and the promoter in trying to attract international acts. I gave Thomond Park and Nolan Park as examples. I am aware that Thomond Park and the Aviva stadium also have, as part of their general planning, the potential for three such events without recourse to the licensing regime, but they are allowed to apply for more on an ongoing basis. That is wrong. There should be a set limit on an annual basis so that the venue owner knows he cannot go back on that, the residents know that something will not be foisted upon them at a later stage and anybody seeking to attract an international event or act knows with certainty that Thomond Park, Nolan Park, Cusack Park in Ennis, or wherever, has particular dates available. That takes away the necessity for a risk-assessment-based approach which requires a caveat stating that tickets are being sold subject to licence. Even with the pre-consultation process mentioned by the Minister of State, promoters will still have to put a proviso at the end of the advertisement for whatever it might be, stating "Subject to licence." Up to four weeks before the event takes place that licence can be refused, which means disappointment. That does not happen with every event.

There was an extreme set of circumstances in the Garth Brooks case. It could happen again, and I have no doubt that it will unless the legislation is amended to provide certainty. What everybody wants is certainty for all concerned. With my colleagues, I intend to draft more comprehensive legislation to separate the entire licensing regime from the Planning and Development Act to allow venues to seek licences in perpetuity under certain conditions. Issuance of those licences will be subject to input from local authorities and residents. It will be a comprehensive approach to dealing with this important matter once and for all rather than the haphazard approach that applies currently. If that legislation is accepted, I will be prepared to work with the Department on it, in which case there is no need for the Bill I have proposed, which was to address the lack of an overall review in legislation. I wish to put on record that I and my party have no interest in going back to the planning practices of the past that saw people from quite a number of political parties involve themselves, wrongly, in the decision making process, or in any way undermining the whole notion of local democracy. Now and again there are exceptional circumstances that should allow the Minister, in a transparent manner, to intervene until such time as there is a comprehensive methodology for addressing the licensing regimes of venues throughout the country.

I thank the Minister of State for his comments and his approach to addressing the matter. I am disappointed that he will not accept the Bill, but I ask him to work with all sides of the House on a more comprehensive methodology for addressing this important matter so that not only those who attend events but the economy as a whole can benefit from Ireland's reputation as a destination that welcomes such events, whether it is the National Ploughing Championships, certain sporting events, concerts or large international acts of distinction.

Question put and declared lost.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.40 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 30 June 2015.