COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

QUESTION NO. 20

QUESTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

To ask the Chief Executive why submissions by individuals on a number of consultations such as the Lucan Village Green and Lucan Demesne Works on the portal could clicked open and viewed but then this option was blocked around 27th January on all but a small number of consultations; to clarify that these submissions in their raw (but moderated) state will made available before the closing date so as to restore public confidence in the transparency of the process; and if a statement can be made on the matter.

REPLY:

There has been a lot of public interest in the Lucan Village Green and Main Street Part 8 consultation and this has resulted in a large number of submissions.

Most unusually, a significant number of the people who made submissions included a lot of personal medical information. This issue had never arose previously on such Part 8 consultations.

The administrator of the consultation room temporarily closed the publication of submissions pending advice on how the submissions could be moderated or redacted to ensure that an individual’s personal medical data was not viewable but that the essence of their submission was not impacted. Advice was received, the moderations and redactions made and the submissions were re-opened for viewing on 9th February.