Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My amendment proposes the inclusion of one word, "enhancement", which is something we, as a State, are already doing. We enhance our landscape, ecology and biodiversity through reforestation, wetting of bogs, etc. In the case of any architectural building or heritage, the State affords itself or the owner of the building the capacity to enhance it. That is not conservation, which is a limiting thing that is about stopping changes. It is a regressive move in that it limits the maker of the planning framework. It is just about conserving, with no capacity to enhance. It is about keeping as is rather than what we are already doing, which is enhancing under all of these subheadings, including landscape, ecology, biodiversity and our natural and architectural heritage. We already enhance those things. There is no reason the word "enhancement" cannot be included.