Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputies for their contributions here this evening. They were all constructive. Deputy Whitmore raised specific issues and made suggestions, as did Deputies Ahern, Cronin and others. Charges were made about certain things but I will leave them for a more general debate. I welcome the broad support for the Bill.

I assure Deputies that as we move to Committee Stage we will be seeking to improve the Bill. The regulations on the timeframe will be done by secondary legislation, which is the better thing to do in that they can be more flexible. We will not have to come back and amend the legislation.

The same goes for resourcing. A couple of colleagues mentioned resources and asked questions about tighter timelines, which we badly need. We must balance that as well with public participation. I am acutely aware of that too. I do not believe that this legislation will impact upon that but we have to watch this as it works through. Unquestionably the EPA will need further additional resources. It has been further resourced over recent years. I do not have a figure on that but, as Deputy Ahern is aware, it would not be written into the Bill either. We will have an opportunity to talk about them in more detail on Committee Stage.

This legislation did go through the pre-legislative scrutiny process in June 2024 and a report was published on it in July 2024. We did have input on it from other stakeholders. It is about striking the balance between making sure we are competitive and that we have definitive timeframes because it is impossible for people to operate within a system that does not have a timeline or deadline. In particular where there are minor changes, we are creating work for ourselves with reviews or minor changes to existing licences. That is notwithstanding the points and contentions that Deputy Whitmore made about a specific case. I will not comment on it, but enforcement is critical and key for whatever legislation we have.

I value our biodiversity. I also value the beautiful environment in which we live. I regret the continued degradation of our inland waterways and water courses. There are many reasons for it. We must reverse the trend on that. It is something I was acutely aware of in my previous Department. While we are doing many things well, we need to do other things better. The provision of renewables is one of the areas where we are advancing well. Deputy Pa Daly made remarks earlier about the percentage of renewables within the grid. I disagree with the points he made, but that is for another day. I am sure we will debate that on another day. I welcome the broad support that has been given here for the Bill. I have taken on board the points that have been raised here and I will consider them. I look forward to getting to Committee Stage and working with colleagues in committee to advance this piece of legislation as quickly and efficiently as we can.

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