Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 44:

In page 39, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following: “7.The Minister shall, within seven months of the passing of this Act, lay before the Oireachtas and relevant Committee a report on the regulations required consequent on

the commencement of this Act and providing a detailed timeline for the enactment of each section of the Act.”.

I know the Minister of State is not going to support the amendment. Its purpose is to give him an opportunity to set out for the committee and anybody watching from sectoral organisations or the wider public as much information as he is in a position to do at this stage with respect to the commencement schedule. There are initial workings on what could be a commencement schedule. Within that, I am also interested to know certain elements of the Bill, for example, statutory timelines from An Bord Pleanála, something I fully support. There is a question as to how can that be implemented now, given that the board has such a backlog. Is there a plan for how they would be phased in?

I would like as much information as possible about the process of the regulations. We know from the Department officials informing the committee previously that there is a process of reviewing the regulations. There is a lot of interest both on this side of the committee and among interested sectoral and professional organisations to get as much information and clarity as is possible at this point in time on what the schedule of enactment, phasing and regulations are. I would love if the Minister of State supported the amendment because I would like him to publish a full report in seven months. However, the more information here is what he can give the committee at this point in time.