Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Regarding marine protected areas, I regret that the legislation has not been published. I expect it to be in the coming weeks and it can and should be enacted in the lifetime of this Government, although that depends on how long the Government goes. I agree it is regrettable that the legislation has not been delivered. This has been due to a series of complex legal issues between three Departments that needed to be resolved. My understanding is that they have been resolved now and it is purely a matter of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel completing the drafting process as per the instructions that have finally been agreed. That legislation will be published shortly and I hope it will be enacted in the lifetime of this Oireachtas.

I do not believe that this reflects badly on the approach we have taken to the development of DMAPs. It is an ecological approach that contemplates our wider ambition to protect our natural systems, avoid conflict and follow a plan-led rather than a development-led approach. Therefore, the DMAPs do not require the marine protected area legislation to be passed to be effective. They stand up in their own right to the highest environmental standards.

In the past week or two, I have been checking on where the Planning and Development Bill is as regards its various amendments. It is a complex, 756-page Bill. I will put my trust in the Senators and Deputies who have been scrutinising it. It is probably the most scrutinised legislation that has gone through the Houses in my experience. It has been almost four years, and I do not know how many hours the committee sat for the Bill’s parliamentary review and discussion of its amendments.

Regarding what the Senator said about a facility being included as a possible development, there is no party in the Oireachtas or individual Member who thinks that we should not take this strategic approach rather than a commercial approach to-----