Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This is the grouping starting with amendment No. 70. Amendment No. 73 is mine. I agree with Deputy Ó Broin that we had a very long discussion on what is referred to as section 5 in the current Act. We went into it in quite some detail. In fact, I think it is a part of the Act that many were not that familiar with and our discussions brought a good level of interest to bear on it. My suggestion was that rather than taking out "any person" having the right to make a request in this regard, as it is now, we would change this to "a person with sufficient interest in the matter to which the declaration relates". I note the Minister's amendment No. 72 that would allow groups such as NGOs and others as set out and defined in the proposed new section 10(1)(e), to act in this regard. Section 5 was used very successfully by an NGO, Friends of the Irish Environment, in regard to question concerning an exemption to development in respect of peat extraction. It was a very successful use of section 5 that led to this declaration being upheld and defended and the finding that the proposed extraction was development. In this regard, I think the Minister's amendment No. 72 reaches a compromise I can live with and accept. This is notwithstanding that I do feel there are occasions where any persons or an individual should be able to seek a section 5 declaration. I do accept, though, that this proposed amendment would be an improvement on what was there before and would allow these groups and NGOs, similar to what we have in Part 9, to seek section 5 declarations.

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