Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am more than happy not to move amendment No. 47 on the basis of the commitments given by the Minister. On amendment No. 49, I will not repeat the arguments I made, other than to note that the purpose of this amendment, and other amendments, is to increase the level of public involvement at an earlier stage. I believe this would be appropriate but the Minister clearly does not agree with me. Likewise, with regard to the proposal to extend the period within which the board must make a determination from eight to ten weeks, if people are to engage meaningfully with the process, they must have an adequate period in which to digest the information, particularly where it is of a highly technical nature. For this reason, the proposal to extend the timeframe for decisions by two weeks is not unreasonable.

The key issue in respect of amendment No. 51 is to ensure that information is provided to persons for whom it is relevant at the earliest possible stage.

With respect to amendment No. 53, the greater the level of clarity we can provide for people, the better the final planning outcomes will be in this process. I will press all the amendments, with the exception of amendment No. 47.