Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Deputies to withdraw amendments Nos. 146 to 149 because the matters they relate to are already provided for elsewhere in the Bill. Under section 37(3), where an EIA has been carried out by the Minister, in deciding whether or not to grant a licence, the Minister must take into account the EIA and its results and findings, as well as the EIA report and any other information submitted to the Minister during the EIA process.

Under section 39, in all cases, whether or not a licence has been granted, following the carrying out of an EIA by the Minister, he or she must publish a wide range of information, including; the main reasons and considerations on which his or her decision is based, including information about the public participation process, an evaluation of the direct and indirect effects of the proposed works on the environment and, where necessary, a description of the main measures to be taken to avoid or offset the significant adverse effects on the environment. All this information will be publicly available on the Department's website and the EIA portal.

In the context of amendment No. 147, there is nothing in the relevant subsection that could undermine or effect the responsibilities of an applicant under the EIA directive. As a result, I do not consider the amendment necessary.

Amendments Nos. 148 and 149, which relate to section 34(10), are not workable. Section 34(10) gives effect to paragraph 3(c) of Article 5 of the EIA directive, permitting the Minister to indicate what information should be contained in an EIA report by way of the various qualitative criteria, for example, descriptions and non-technical summaries listed under Annex IV of the EIA directive.

Some of the information in Annex IV may be required and the current drafting allows the Minister of the day to determine what he or she needs to reach a reasoned conclusion on the significant effects of the project on the environment. The amendment as proposed would require all the information under Annex IV to be contained in the EIA report. This is not considered reasonable. As a result, I am unable to accept these amendments.