Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy O'Callaghan, Deputy Matthews and I discussed at length the amendments we made in respect of biodiversity and the amendment we brought forward in respect of that. I will first address amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 140, proposed by Deputy Ó Broin. This amendment seeks to include a reference to supporting compliance with the wildlife obligations of public authorities under section 59B of that Act and introduce a new public sector duty on biodiversity. For the reason that we went through yesterday, I do not see a need to replicate it within the provisions of the Bill and cannot accept that amendment.

Amendment No. 140 strengthens section 21(2)(f) which provides that the national planning framework, or NPF, will contain a statement setting out Government objectives in relation to "the national climate objective and National Biodiversity Action Plan". As I have already mentioned when dealing with earlier amendments, there was substantial debate on Committee Stage on matters relating to biodiversity and I committed to looking at the references to it in the Bill and bringing forward amendments on Report Stage. This amendment strengthens references to biodiversity at a national planning framework level and there are further amendments to do so in relation to national planning statement levels, namely, amendment No. 220, emphasising the requirement for integration of the relevant policies and measures of the Government relating to the national biodiversity action plan. By making these amendments at NPF level, these matters are then given the appropriate importance to be reflected consistently through the tiers of planning that flow from it. The Bill provides a plan-led system and structure whereby all tiers of planning, from regional to local, align with the strategic objectives set out in the NPF. Put simply, lower order plans will be required to align with higher order plans, with development plans aligned to regional strategies and in turn to the national planning framework and national planning statements, and with the area-based plans aligned to development plans.

Amendment No. 148 amends section 21(3)(a), which sets out what the NPF must make provision for, and deleting the duplicate reference to “development requirements”. Amendment No. 184 amends section 23 in relation to the procedure for review of the NPF to clarify that it is the new or revised NPF that is subject to the environmental screening requirements.

I turn to amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 186, proposed by Deputies Boyd Barrett, Ó Broin, Ó Snodaigh, Gould and Cian O’Callaghan. This amendment seeks to provide that the observations arising from NPF consultations must be published.

While I understand the intent of this amendment, I do not think it is necessary. I consider it sufficient to publish a summary of the observations rather than the observations themselves.

Amendment No. 186 expands this section 23 to provide that the publication of the NPF must be on a website and include a summary of observations made on foot of consultations carried out. I committed on Committee Stage, as Members may recall, that I would bring forward this amendment.

Amendment No. 192 amends section 24, which sets out the plans and documents the Government must have regard to when reviewing the NPF and corrects, very simply, a typographical error to reference "plans" instead of "plan".

We already dealt at length with amendment No. 125 yesterday, with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. This related to the change of the name of the national planning framework. I intend to use English language titles for national planning matters and corresponding material, such as the NPF, in the English language version of the Bill. The Irish language titles will in the Irish language version of the Bill. For this reason, unfortunately, I cannot accept this amendment, but I think we had a good debate and discussion yesterday of the importance of our teanga and, in relation to later amendments, in regard to special area priority plans for our Gaeltachtaí tríd an tír.

Amendments Nos. 126 and 185 seek to provide that the preparation and publication of the NPF shall be subject to the approval of the Oireachtas and set out a procedure for this approval. It is appropriate that the NPF is approved by the Government. As Deputies are aware, the NPF is a highly participative, transparent and deliberative process beyond the level of consultation, assessment and scrutiny typically involved in Government policy formulation and implementation. Ultimately, unfortunately, the Government of the day must negotiate and agree an approach, including associated targets, that will play a huge role guiding the delivery of infrastructure delivery across almost every Department, and that is why the Bill provides for Government approval. However, the Bill, in section 23(2), provides for extensive consultation with stakeholders on the development of the NPF, including the Oireachtas and local government as well as the public. As such, I do not think it is necessary for the NPF, as Government policy, to be approved by the Oireachtas. We debated this at length on Committee Stage as well. I cannot, therefore, accept these amendments.

Amendment Nos. 128 and 135 concern section 21(2) and the objectives in the NPF. Amendment No.128 seeks to include that the NPF include policies and proposals for furthering the objective of securing sustainable development, and amendment No. 135 aims to include an objective for supporting the achievement of a just transition. It should be noted that section 21(2) already provides an overarching objective that the NPF should set out the Government’s national plan in relation to the strategic planning and sustainable development of the State. I consider that the concept of supporting a just transition is already captured within the existing objectives as set out, especially when amendment No. 140 is taken into consideration. Unfortunately, due to this, I cannot accept these amendments.

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