John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Section 53 of the Bill is an enabling provision empowering the Loughs Agency to make regulations concerning applications for aquacultural licences. As an enabling provision it is written in discretionary terms. The amendment proposed by the Deputy is mandatory in nature and as such is not compatible with an enabling provision such as this. Any regulations made by the agency will require the prior approval of the North-South Ministerial Council.

Members will recall that the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, shared Deputy Broughan's concerns on Committee Stage and undertook to obtain legal advice on the matter to see how best these concerns might be addressed. My officials have discussed the position with their Northern counterparts and the legal advisers in the two jurisdictions. On foot of the agreement reached in the course of these discussions, I am proposing amendment No. 10 which I believe meets the concerns expressed on Committee Stage. One of the points made on Committee Stage was that obligation on the Loughs Agency in respect of the consideration of representations on the environmental matters in section 53B is discretionary whereas section 53C imposes a mandatory obligation on the Loughs Agency to consider any written representations made in respect of an aquacultural licence application. The amendment I have proposed ensures that this mandatory obligation in section 53C will apply to representations made in respect of the impact of aquaculture on the environment. I propose that amendment No. 10 be accepted and that amendment No. 9 need not be accepted in these circumstances.

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