Ms Maria Graham:

There are two aspects the Deputy has touched on that are important with regard to future-proofing. The planning Act is really around processes like how you plan, how you consent and how you enforce. What is important in tandem with that legislation is the robustness of the policy framework that sits around it and the degree to which the planning system can then take account of that. In the renewable energy space, for example, that is what targets we have, what our overall ambition is and how that translates down to regional level so it can influence local development plans rather than local authorities having to look at this against a national target. They will have some idea of what the regional target is as well. That is an area the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is working on. Similarly, it will be looking at updating its offshore renewables plans as well, perhaps to look at issues around the sequencing of development areas. We have a lot in the frameworks that allows flexibility if you have the policy. If you have a clear policy at national level, and perhaps a clear policy at regional level, that can then influence the local authority element.

The other element we will be looking at is that the environmental assessment tends to relate to whether projects are over an environmental threshold. I suppose over time you can look at whether those thresholds are fit for purpose and need to be reviewed. The habitats directive is slightly different with respect to the tests, if you like, but there is provision within that directive for projects that have an overriding public interest. If you discover there may be some damage, you look at whether it is a project of overriding public interest and at how to mitigate the efforts. We have had one project in Ireland, which was Lough Talt in Sligo, where the question involved public health and environmental issues. It was a matter of dealing with public health issues while trying to mitigate environmental damage. That is an area we have not used much in Ireland compared with other European countries. We may need to explore controversial issues or whether there is an overriding interest, for example. That is what the Commission pointed to, perhaps, in renewable energy. We will look at mitigation measures.

I am speaking in generalities, as Deputy Higgins will appreciate. From a legislative perspective, it is a matter of ensuring the provisions that allow that process or thinking process to happen are sufficiently robust, are aligned with the directives, allow for the public participation and allow one to come to a balanced decision. Finally, as I mentioned, if we have all the environmental parts in a single part of the Act, and if there are new changes to directives, we can more easily make that legislative change.