Mr. John Kenny:

I will answer Deputy Ó Broin's second question first. I apologise to the committee but I will have to leave after this. My colleagues will take a note on any questions and I can revert to the committee as necessary.

On public participation, this Bill proposes a completely unique model of licensing, whereby the EPA analyses the bodies, then identifies the significant abstractors, then approaches the abstractors themselves, and then brings those abstractors through the licensing process. My reading of the Bill is that in none of those steps is there any provision for public participation, because the model adopted - as far as I am aware and I practice in this area extensively - has no other comparable licensing model that is an analogy for that proposed in the Bill. The uniform approach in all other licensing regimes is that if a person's activity needs a licence or a permission, he or she approaches the consent authority, that is advertised to the public, the public is given an opportunity to make a submission on that, and then the consent authority makes a decision on it. That is the model used across the board in Ireland. I do not see any warrant in the water framework directive for this kind of roving jurisdiction which is being given by the EPA, effectively as a water policeman, to have a look at water bodies, have a look at abstractors, and if they think a particular activity is significant, to effectively bring the individual within the regulatory net. In my very respectful submission, that is simply a recipe to allow significant water abstractors to continue their activities, untrammelled by the requirements of licensing or registration. I would urge the committee to adopt the uniform approach, which is adopted by regulation in Ireland, whereby if I want a licence I must apply for it and in the course of that determination there is an opportunity for public participation. In my very respectful view, there is no warrant for a departure from that well worn and well understood model, which is used in the EIA directive, the habitats directive and the industrial emissions directive. The model is used in every regulatory licensing regime in the State with the exception, for some reason, of what is proposed in the Bill.