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

I will come back in there. Before I respond to Deputy Matthews, I commend him on his role as Chairperson of the Oireachtas joint committee, specifically in respect of this Bill and the manner in which Committee Stage was carried out, but not just that, given there have been other significant items of legislation for which he has chaired the committee. We have managed to get through the likes of the Affordable Housing Act, the Maritime Area Planning Act, the Land Development Agency Act and now this once-in-a-generation legislation. The Deputy will see that the changes he has referred to, such as amendments Nos. 20 and 21, came directly from those discussions. I outlined to Members earlier that even with regard to pre-legislative scrutiny, two thirds of the matters that were raised were incorporated into this Bill. We have done our best to be constructive throughout, and while others might have a different view, I think the facts will be borne out in that regard. I too am pleased to bring forward amendments Nos. 20 and 21, regarding environmental NGOs, and I thank Deputy Matthews for his support and input to ensure we do this.

For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, these provisions are not giving anyone any permission to override requirements regarding heights of masts or anything like that. The intention is to make sure people are notified on licence applications in order that a Minister, for certain licence applications, can ensure there is public notification around that. Amendment No. 26 adds a regulation-making power for the Minister to prescribe certain classes of licence requests, which will be defined within the regulations, as requiring public notification. I used the example of a telecommunications mast. When we bring forward the regulations, if someone makes an application for a licence, there would have to be public notification in that regard. It would mean people know about it, as is only right and proper. This is a change that, on the basis of what Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said in his contribution, is one he should welcome.

I did not get to respond earlier to the issues he and his colleague Deputy Michael Healy-Rae raised regarding centralisation. One of the significant changes we are bringing forward is a new governance structure for the Office of the Planning Regulator. I flagged on Committee Stage that we would bring forward amendments in that regard. Those amendments have been brought forward.

Deputies have referred to the large number of amendments we are dealing with in this three-hour slot. In fact, many are simply consequential amendments, such as inserting references to this Bill in another Act. The way some Members are talking, one would think these are all substantive amendments that have never previously been flagged. That is not the case.

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