Mr. Thomas Welby:

In response to Senator Craughwell, An Bord Pleanála put in place a condition that the National Parks and Wildlife Service must oversee this, but on the basis of Mr. Warner's presentation at the oral hearing, one would expect that a lot of background work had been done and that this project would have moved on. My concern is Mr. Warner has moved on but we do not know and are at a loss as to whether it is a breakdown in the system within the National Parks and Wildlife Service and that it lacks the personnel and professional people to do it or whether people are opposed to the project. Our recommendation is there should be a structured system with a clear timescale put in place for decisions on method statements.

As I stated, if someone is given a report seeking his or her input, it is completely unacceptable if that person has not come back after 18 months. This is not in any way acceptable. While the NPWS may have been put in a position in which it never had been previously, if it seeks the protection of the environment - as do we all - I would expect the service to be constructive and that it should come forward to lay out clearly what are the issues. There are other issues in respect of designations and there is a cumulative effect on various projects. If members can imagine that 58% of Connemara is designated, a 15 km zone has been put in place on top of that. If one carries out a development within 15 km of a designated area and even if one is not within that designated area, one must prove the development will not have an effect on the designated site.

Effectively, what we want is meaningful discussion. With regard to Mr. Warner, 0.007% was taken away from the SAC designation and another 213 acres were designated in Connemara in 2016. That 50% is climbing all the time and the zone where we are carrying out development is being reduced. We must have a meaningful discussion and meaningful input from the National Parks and Wildlife Service within a structured timescale.