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

It is a misunderstanding to think these amendments are suggesting what the Minister of State has said they are. It was stated that these would mean a correction of a typo would require public consultation. That is a bit of a stretch and nobody would suggest that these amendments would mean that the correction of a typo would require public consultation. The general understanding is that any material changes would require public consultation but that a typo correction would not. The Minister of State might give some examples of where typo corrections require public consultation, seeing as that is his stated position on this. I do not accept that.

The Minister of State also indicated that there would need to be a separate consultation on the revoking of guidelines. At the same time, he states that the revoking of guidelines would nearly always happen in conjunction with new guidelines being introduced. It is quite clear that where new guidelines are being introduced and other guidelines are being revoked, there could be a consultation process on the revoking of guidelines and introduction of new guidelines if it is all part of the same process. Given that the Minister of State argues that it would be a rare scenario for guidelines to just be revoked on their own without new guidelines being introduced, the scenario about which he is worried - the revocation of guidelines requiring a separate consultation - would not frequently arise, if ever.

I have the same concerns about the Minister of State's indication that there will only be public consultation after a screening process, especially with regard to directives. These amendments specifically seek public consultation in all scenarios. Between these guidelines, the directives and the policy statements, there is so much leeway for a Minister to set the direction and the impact it can have.

If the guidelines are of significance, and they will be, the Minister will not set them for no reason. We have seen in other planning areas where guidelines can have a major impact. Whether a screening process decides public consultation is required or not, it is very clear that public consultation is needed given that these guidelines will be of significance. They are significant enough to be in the legislation we are discussing now and what is to be put on a statutory basis. Given the extent of the powers, they are significant enough to go to public consultation as part of a system of checks and balances on these quite strong powers that the Minister is to be given with the legislation.