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

To clarify, I am not making any comment on the work done by the Minister of State and officials with respect to public participation so far. We appreciate a huge amount of work has gone into the area and we can see the Minister of State is very passionate about the work that has been done. We are taking a cold look at this legislation to see how it will operate with any Minister or group of officials. It is our job to do that, and it is not based on current or recent practice. It is not about making any statement on that.

My specific question concerned section 18(1). My reading of how it relates to sections 17(2) and 17(3) is that it could allow for a delay of approximately six years until a public participation statement is drawn up. It refers to being as soon as practicable after those sections are complied with and the sections allow for six years after the existing national marine planning framework's publication. It could be six years from now. Am I misreading that? Is it correct that we could be looking at a six-year delay for this public participation statement being drawn up? If that is the case, what is the reason, especially given that this is all about the public participation statement?