Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 199 first if that is okay. It is relative to considerations on the national planning statement. From what I can see, it covers three pages in the Bill and it does not mention biodiversity anywhere in those three pages. The Bill states that "the Minister shall have regard to", which does not necessarily mean he or she has to. The definition mentions looking at the matter concerned and factoring its relevance and-or weight, if any, as those matters appear to the decision-maker, which is the Minister. Really, therefore, it is just adding in a piece to "support and enhance biodiversity". It is a simple line to go into the Bill so that there is something in there about biodiversity for the Minister at the time when he or she is putting forward a national planning statement, because there is not at the moment.