Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. There are two answers as to why landscape conservation areas are being removed and why they are not included in the Bill. The first is they were little used in the past. The second is that it is expected it will be achieved in another way. This is looking at section, where there is an obligation to prepare a strategy for conservation. According to the section, a planning authority shall prepare the strategy for the conservation, protection, management and improvement of natural and built heritage and landscape in the functional area of the planning authority. Section 48 contains three subsections that detail how a council or a local authority shall prepare, as part of its county development plan, a specific strategy for conservation. It is being moved from one place to another.