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

On the projects, they can be for social and economic reasons. In practice, across Europe, very few countries go down the imperative reasons of overriding public interest, IROPI, route. They still have to go through this three-step process. In the case of renewable energy projects, the Deputy mentioned the maritime protected areas, MPAs, and the MPA legislation. The idea behind them is a much more iterative type of process so they could provide compensatory measures with regard to locations also.