Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed)

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

I move amendment No. 194:

In page 94, line 37, to delete “A person” and substitute “Subject to regulations made under section 114, a person”.

This amendment makes section 113, relating to applications for grant of licence, subject to regulations the Minister can make in respect of the nature and extent of consultation that applicants need to carry out under a new section 114 proposed in amendment No. 197.

Amendment No. 195 is a technical drafting amendment to replace "or by affidavit" with "by affidavit or otherwise"”. The effect of this amendment is that the applicant can provide MARA with additional information by affidavit or otherwise, thus widening the type of information MARA can seek to support an application and potentially reducing the burden on some applicants. For example, in some cases applicants may not have to go through the process of securing an affidavit where it would be disproportionate to the nature of the information MARA is seeking.

The purpose of amendment No. 196 is to only require MARA to carry out a screening for environmental impact assessment where it considers it necessary to so do after having regard to Schedules 5 and 7 to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001. The current drafting requires a screening in every instance and provides no objective criteria upon which such a determination will be made. This amendment brings a level of consistency with the planning Acts and clarity in respect of the decision-making in respect of those matters and provides more certainty. Given that it is under the planning Acts that proposals that require an EIA will ultimately be assessed, it makes sense to use the same criteria to assess whether a proposed usage is eligible to apply for a licence or not. This does not dilute the existing provision as set out in the initiated text but, rather, points to specific criteria by which the screening decision will be made and, indeed, if one is necessary. EIA screening will not be required for activities not listed in the relevant annexes of the EIA directive and MARA needs the flexibility to reduce its administrative burden in this respect, but all while having very objective criteria within which it can be done. I note that planning authorities and the board already use these criteria to determine if EIA screenings are required.

To be clear, if MARA does not screen a relevant activity and it should have done so, the decision will be deficient and challengeable. If MARA screens out an activity for EIA that should have been screened in, having regard to the provisions of the planning regulations, then the decision to accept the application in the first place can be said to be ultra viresand could be challenged. This amendment sets the parameters for these things, bringing more certainty to the process for MARA, applicants and the general public. I am sure the Deputies will agree the rationale for this approach is sound.

Amendment No. 198 is a technical drafting amendment to insert "to do so" after "practicable" and improve the syntax. The intention and effect is the same.

Amendment No. 204 requires MARA, when given notification of the refusal of a licence, to publish on its website a copy of the notice provided for under section 114(3), giving reasons for its decision. It explicitly addresses a perceived lacuna in the initiated Bill relating to the publishing of licences that were refused and ensures consistency across all types of decisions MARA can make.

Amendment No. 205 is a technical drafting amendment to insert the number of the subsection referred to, missing from the Bill as initiated, and refers to the preceding subsection (5).

Amendment No. 207 is a technical drafting amendment, to replace “or by affidavit” with “by affidavit or otherwise”. The effect of this amendment is that the applicant can provide MARA with additional information by affidavit or something else in respect of an application to surrender a licence. It widens the scope of what can be submitted in order to surrender a licence and aligns it with other drafting in this Part.

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