Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 101:

In page 51, to delete lines 28 to 30 and substitute the following: “(2) A relevant declaration shall be admissible in evidence in any proceedings brought by a person, other than an enforcement authority, relating to the act, operation or change in use in respect of which the relevant declaration was made.”.

Before we vote on the amendment, I would say that this is problematic. My amendment seeks to amend section 11. Section 11 has been problematic in that it has been hard to understand. The note has been helpful. It states the declaration would not be evidence of the commission of an offence because that would deprive the defendant of the right to produce evidence proving that the development was an exempted development. That provides some clarity on this. It is very problematic that third parties are excluded from section 11. The Minister said that is being looked at but we just do not know at this point what sections 10 and 11 will look like if this is changed on Report Stage. We really are in the dark as to what section 11 will look like, potentially, on Report Stage. I will press my amendment because at this point this wording is highly problematic and it is highly problematic that third parties are excluded in sections 10 and 11 in the way they are.