Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We may share many of these opinions but we are bound by the constraints of the judgment. We are trying to remove the onus on the applicant to do the environmental impact assessment and there has been engagement with the Marine Institute and others. We are currently developing a new system of screening in and screening out and getting outside consultants to help with the ecological assessment. We are seeking clarification on the legal position and we are working with the industry. To that end I commissioned a report by Mr. James MacKinnon, which we will accept tomorrow and I hope to publish on Friday, and it deals with the procedures and processes in question.

We are clear in our recognition that this is a challenge that we must get right. We have had engagement with the forest appeals committee's new chairman, who has extensive experience with An Bord Pleanála, on the procedures and to get guidance on how we can best progress. That is in light of how so many cases are now going through an appeals process. It is another matter that the Deputy has not raised but it is certainly there and causing problems.

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