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

Amendment No. 263 is a technical drafting amendment. The purpose of the amendment is, for technical and drafting reasons, to delete the current sections 320 and 321. There are replacement powers provided for elsewhere to ensure the MARA can carry out the functions referred to in the deleted sections. A similar provision is provided in the amendment proposed for page 227 of the Bill, being the insertion of a new subsection (1A) into section 157 at amendment No. 304 and the powers of authorised officers at amendment No. 209, already approved. I can assure Deputies that I am not diluting the powers of the MARA, but I have redrafted the Bill to accommodate the powers elsewhere. For drafting purposes, I am reusing the vacant sections remaining here.

Amendment No. 304 is an amendment to Schedule 12 of the Bill - the direct amendments to the Planning Act. The purpose of this amendment to section 157 of the PDA, prosecution of offences, is to insert subsection (1A) providing that summary proceedings for an offence under Part VIII of the PDA may be brought and prosecuted by the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority whether or not the offence is committed in the maritime area. This relates to a previous deletion at amendment and gives the MARA the power to pursue offences such as the non-compliance with an enforcement notice, which technically takes place where the notice has been served and not in the maritime area. It effectively replaces the deleted section 321.