Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is primarily a technical Bill. None the less, it contains a number of important and broad-reaching provisions, ranging from the transfer of certain State-owned assets through to measures which will serve to enhance the protection of the environment. Great strides have been made in recent years in advancing the legislative framework to protect the environment. The Bill will help to underpin and consolidate progress by providing licensing and enforcement authorities with common-sense, practical tools to allow them to fulfil their statutory obligations effectively and efficiently. It also removes a number of minor ambiguities, providing greater clarity to authorities and the public alike.

The Bill contains 35 sections, grouped into six separate Parts, which deal with the following matters: the transfer of powers and functions under the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act; the reinstatement of existing fixed payment notices in the area of air quality; the extension of fixed penalty notices to a range of other existing offences in areas of air quality and waste management and, in particular, in relation to WEEE; extension of the scope of the EPA; extension of the deadline for making a declaration of non-use in the case of registration of a new vehicle and on change of ownership of the vehicle; and amendment of some minor typographical errors in existing primary legislation relating to the control of dogs and dog breeding establishments.

Section 1 sets out the short title of the Bill on enactment and allows that Part 2 of the Bill and the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act 1932 may be cited together as the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Acts 1932 and 2014. It also makes technical provision for the commencement of the Bill by order.