Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To answer Deputy Ó Broin's point about the article he cited and the potential impact in that regard, no, that is not the case. We do not believe there is a legal risk regarding the points Deputy Ryan made about the Aarhus Convention. In some ways this is related to amendment No. 12, which we will discuss in a moment. There is the idea that one could potentially open up a situation whereby people who had original permission that did not require an EIA might find themselves going for a simple extension to allow them to finish the build but could find their ability to complete that build undermined by the fact that they may now have to take into account changes that could have happened, for example, in terms of the strategic direction of a development plan in that area. A building could be almost substantially complete, be it an apartment block or anything else, but might no longer be in keeping with a policy change that might have happened since. This would then undermine the person's rights in respect of the permission that was originally granted in terms of the particular purpose of the build being undertaken by that developer at the time.

What we want to facilitate here is the completion of housing developments on which substantial progress has been made and which are almost complete. While there is no statutory definition of this, there is significant relevant case law. What we talk about here are developments that are past the point of no return. When we consider it in that context and what the local authorities will be judging, this screening further undermines that and therefore takes away the certainty we want to have in bringing forward this legislation. The Bill is very specific, as I said. It is technical. It was already the intention of the House to provide for this but, due to a drafting error, it has not been possible to commence it. It is about following through on that simple extension so that these developments can be completed.

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