Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not wish to be repetitive in any way because some of the statements being made are somewhat repetitive, although I understand the strength of feeling behind them. I want to address the issues which have been brought up once again. If anyone reads the regulation, they will see that its objectives are very much in line with the sentiments which are expressed by Members of this House. This is not my document. This is not a Fine Gael or Independent Alliance document. We are implementing a directive from Europe with some discretion about how we do it, admittedly, but with objectives which I hope everybody in this House would share.

We are continuously getting the voice of the residents coming from the floor of this House, which we hope that we reflect. This directive constantly lays out that its objective is to take into account the views of local residents. I do not wish to read it to the Deputies. However, the issues which have been raised by the Deputies today and yesterday - of health, of local residents and of independence - are all prerequisites of what is in this document from Europe which we have in front of us. To suggest that we are somehow running counter to the care of the environment, to the interests of health and to the interests of local residents is just not a fair interpretation of what this Bill is doing.

The Bill is appointing, in accordance with the directive, an independent noise regulator to take into account, in a balanced approach, the views of residents, the needs of health and the requirements of the environment. That is what we are doing. There may be disputes and differences about who it should be, and we have been through that several times here today. However, what we have done is put it to tests of independence. The best tests we can put it to are legal tests, the Attorney General's tests, and a discussion with Fingal County Council itself. Although I do not know if the council needed much persuasion, it came around to the view, after a long discussion to which the Deputy was referring when referring to the letter, that it believes it is independent. The Attorney General has that view. I am not a position to challenge the view of the Attorney General on that or anything else, particularly as it is already decided. It had a contrary view in terms of the IAA, which many Deputies here would like to see as the independent regulator.

What we are doing here is producing, in difficult circumstances, a measure which will take into account everything which is in EU Regulation 598/2014 and take into account the balanced approach. It is a genuine and sincere effort to accommodate those conflicting interests in a very fair way. That is what we hope the regulator will be doing. It is wrong for anybody here to prejudge any decision by the regulator.

There is absolutely no indication that it is or would be sympathetic to any party.

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