Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 19 October 2021

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It just does not tell me much about how they interact. That should be much clearer and the Government could do something on that on Report Stage to give a bit of clarity. The Minister of State has articulated a good bit of that here. It would be better if it were in black and white in the Bill so there is absolute clarity on that. That then gives an idea of where that can begin and finish with the policy statements. I still have the concern I articulated earlier that the Minister could go in all sorts of directions with those policy statements. It is helpful that it would then be subject to a vote in the Houses because that gives a level of scrutiny. However, I have the concern a particular Minister, perhaps lobbied in a particular area where there are particular interests, could be going down routes that are very bad for the marine environment. Much of the substance of our amendments Nos. 33 and 43 would really give a framework the policy statements would have to comply with, which would be really beneficial.

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