Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I oppose these amendments, which provide that regulations made in relation to matters of procedure and administration of LRD-only or LRD opinion or planning applications should be subject to approval by Dáil Éireann. It is correct that certain planning regulations require approval of both Houses under section 262(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 before they are signed into law but this requirement is generally applied for matters such as exempted development regulations, which removes the need for certain development works to seek planning permission or fees regulations whereby the Minister sets fees to be applied by planning authorities. If we were to do this, requiring the approval of regulations which set out matters of administration would be overly burdensome both for my Department, given that it is not being done for others and regulations are a secondary part of the legislative system, and for Members of the Dáil. It is long established that secondary legislation can be prepared and signed by Ministers as long as the principles and policies of the regulations are set out in the legislation. For that reason, I oppose the three amendments.