Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

Yes, briefly, if that is okay. I wish members a good afternoon. Today, we have seen the publication of the accelerated infrastructure action plan, which aims to fast-track the delivery of critical infrastructure in Ireland. The Bill before us for debate is very much part of that delivery plan.

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, plays a really important and pivotal role to protect, improve and restore the environment through regulation, scientific knowledge and working with others. The agency has a wide environmental remit and its responsibilities include the authorisation of activities that have an impact on the environment or on human health. There are approximately 900 EPA licences in operation in Ireland, which regulate large industrial installations in sectors such as waste, pharmaceuticals, chemical, intensive agriculture, energy, food and drink production and cement production. Such installations are licensed under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Waste Management Act 1996. Installations carrying out these activities are required to have an EPA licence in place before they can operate.

The Bill will address four problematic areas that have been identified in the current legislation governing licensing. First, there is no definitive timeframe within which decisions on licences are made. It is taking too long; I think we all agree with that. It takes two years or more for decisions to be made. Even minor proposed amendments to an installation require a full licence review, meaning that the full licence is reviewed and examined. The civil emergency and exceptional circumstances provisions of the environmental impact assessment directive have not been transposed into national law to allow the agency to avail of these provisions in future emergency circumstances.

This legislation also seeks to facilitate the timely development of critical infrastructure in the energy sector, which will facilitate the transition to renewables, the accelerated transition to renewables and the potential need for future emergency generation, as well as the delivery of the national biomethane strategy. Through providing shorter and predictable timeframes for decisions, this legislation aims to improve our competitiveness and remove barriers to investment in infrastructure. Its provisions align with the Government action plan published today.

I thank Deputies Daly, Crowe and Ahern for their engagement in proposing the amendments, and Deputies Heneghan and Ó Cearúil as well. I intend to address the amendments as they have been tabled. I thank the commitment for its time and I look forward to our discussion and debate.