Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem with the answer is section 21(2)(i) is far too restrictive in that it is departments or bodies in the North with responsibility for regional development. That does not include all sorts of other areas that would be integral to the national planning framework. Particularly if you think of the north west and the interconnectedness between Tyrone, Fermanagh, Derry, etc., and the surrounding counties in the 26 Counties, it will be much more than regional development. It will be transport and infrastructure and it could even be health or housing, for example, if there was any significant movement on the Government’s side in relation to the Irish language amendments we have tabled. It could be issues relating to language culture, built heritage, natural heritage, biodiversity, so I do not accept that subsection (i) covers it. Again, you could use the same argument as the Minister did yesterday that subsection (2)(j) covers it because you can include anybody but, again, without rehearsing the detail of the argument yesterday, it is better to specify stuff if you really want it to happen than leave it loose.

Then, on section 215, the problem is it is very general in terms of regulations. It does not make explicit the requirement for transboundary engagements and consultations with specific reference to a NPF review or a NPF. That is the real issue for me here. Again, it is one of those instances where there is nothing in the Bill that stops it happening but would it not be better, given the importance, particularly on an all-Ireland basis and on an east-west basis in particular, that it be much more explicit in the legislation?