Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind members that we have already taken commitments from them on board. Amendment No. 75 is not the first to be taken on board. Where we can, we will work with members to make this legislation better, such as through giving commitments in the context of the resolution relating to the MPPS and getting information out in respect of public participation by communities that think this issue is very important. That has been the structure we have embarked on right through the four years it took to bring about the NMPF. Public participation is at the core of this mechanism. I refer to the three rounds of public participation in that process.

Obviously, the Government is very keen to protect fishermen in every way we can through Government policy. I make no apologies for saying that. I am trying to put forward a Bill that is neutral in the planning code to try to get the best possible outcomes for everyone who uses it.

As regards the directive, I have received clear advice from the Office of the Attorney General. A very senior legal drafter has been working on this legislation because of the complexity and magnitude of the Bill and what it will mean for the country in the future. The clear advice received meant that, in the first instance, we have stayed as close as possible to the MSP directive throughout, referencing articles on many occasions throughout the legislation. It is not necessary to reproduce every single word or section of the directive in the Bill or to reinterpret it through the Bill. We are not doing that. We have clear precedence for this in terms of Part 5 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018 which gave birth to the NMPF. Obviously, we are going through this and embarking on this process again with this new legislation which will undoubtedly be ground-breaking. The advice I have received from the Office of the Attorney General gives me great confidence that we are taking the right approach.

I fully appreciate the concerns raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett.

I cannot get into individual cases but I will say that everything the Government does in this Thirty-third Dáil is to try to make our maritime area planning process plan-led. We are trying to ensure the plan recognises and respects all the vulnerable aspects of our maritime area, protects everyone, gets the best possible outcome and the fairest possible system to adjudicate independently on any applications that come forward in the future.