Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Again, I express my disappointment because it will mean there will be a lower level of scrutiny by Deputies if it is done by way of regulations, but we can deal with that at a later stage.

On the Aarhus Convention, and it is the one point I will make, we are a signatory to it so it does have relevance to this legislation. Article 6.4 of the Aarhus Convention makes it very clear that each party shall provide for early public participation when all options are open so if the Minister excludes public participation from the very opening stage of the EIA screening, he will not be compliant with Article 6.4 of the Aarhus Convention. I suspect that is the real reason the Minister is not willing to consider amendment No. 1. We are not compliant with it. We are a signatory to this treaty and we are simply not living up to it.

With regard to amendment No. 85, my real concern is that if the Minister does not consider amendment No. 85 or some version of it he will be in contravention of the EIA directive 2014 when it comes to the transposition of that and on those grounds I will be pressing both amendments Nos. 1 and 85.

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