Independent MEP Marian Harkin has welcomed the news that the decision of An Bord Pleanala on the planning application for works on the Dunkillen and Aggard rivers is likely to be made at its board meeting on February 29 next.
While welcoming this long awaited decision the Independent MEP was critical of the planning process which took from application in October 2014 to February 2015 to reach a decision.
“During this time many people have suffered great distress and significant social and economic problems have been caused because it has taken so long to tackle a problem which should have been resolved as a matter of urgency”, she said.
The meeting she attended with Environment commission officials in Brussels on Wednesday last had removed some of the reasons why Irish authorities were refusing to tackle flooding problems, she said.
