Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the basis of the Minister of State's answer I am happy to withdraw the amendment, but I ask that he expand briefly on two points.

I understand the difference between the MAC and the grant of permission, but there is a period between the granting of the MAC and the granting of permission where certain categories of works could be carried out such as exploratory surveys or other kinds of activities, for example large-scale offshore wind. How do we ensure that the environmental impact of that work is properly understood, assessed and addressed? That is the first question.

With respect to Schedule 6, and this speaks specifically to the amendment, obviously conditions can be applied to a MAC. If conditions are not applied to the MAC in the first instance, for example if there is not a condition to say that an application for permission has to be with the planning authority within a certain period of time, can that subsequently be added by MARA if somebody unduly delays applying for planning permission, or do they have to do this within the conditions of the MAC in the first instance?