Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 51:

In page 10, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the following shall not be relevant public land for the purposes of this Act:

(a) any land that is being managed, maintained or developed as a nature reserve or a national park by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government;

(b) any land that is being managed, maintained or developed as a heritage site by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland; and

(c) the Phoenix Park, Dublin.”.

There has already been a great deal of heated debate on my amendment, albeit through the medium of social media, between the Minister, Deputy McAuliffe, me and the Labour Party's spokesperson in the Seanad, Senator Rebecca Moynihan. The intent of my amendment is to highlight the potential hazards of the LDA Bill as it is written. I refer to the potential for its impact on public lands under the definition of "relevant public land".

My amendment seeks to insert into the Bill and highlight, in terms of the setting up of the LDA, that lands belonging to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, nature reserves, heritage sites and, indeed, the Phoenix Park, which is one of the most well known sites, protections that are required to ensure that the LDA does not mutate in ways that are unforeseen by anyone. I accept the Minister's bona fides on this. He does not expect the LDA to go this way but I believe that we should back that up and put it in the Bill.