Results 1,861-1,880 of 7,166 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The key issue is independence of the board. In order to operate well, function well, be able to sometimes give a different view and, if necessary, call an issue out, boards need to have a degree of independence as well as expertise. Amendment No. 129 is a marginal improvement on what is contained in the Bill whereby it is stated that several of the members of the board would be officers of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Absolutely.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The role of the board in holding the chief executive and chief executive's team to account is important. We are all agreed on that. The independence of the board is important. Is the Minister of State saying he feels the competition allows for an independent board?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: How can it be an independent board when it is populated by officials from the Departments? As Deputy Boyd Barrett has said, it is not a criticism of officials from Departments to say they are heavily constrained. They do not have the independence of someone with expertise in the marine environment and biodiversity, or someone with academic expertise in this area. By their nature,...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: In one sense, using the local authority analogy in this context is probably not a good example because of the history of why local authority members, as effectively being the board, were taken out of the planning process. I will not go through all that-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: No, but that-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I hear what the Minister of State is saying on that point. I am saying, though, that the local authority example is not a good one to use because of why the local authority members were taken out of that process. It was for a whole set of reasons.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: It was reactive, and it was not necessarily done as best practice or as the best model. It was undertaken as a reaction to a set of circumstances which meant that change had to happen. In and of itself, that example does not necessarily justify replication in this regard.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Yes. If the board does not have that role then what is the oversight mechanism? If there are problems with the process and decisions are being made then who has oversight? If the board feels that there are problems is it constrained and can it not do anything about them? Where does the role of the board start and stop?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Does the board have no role whatsoever?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: What can the board do if it believes there is something wrong with the process? Does the board have a mechanism in such a case?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Can the Minister of State repeat that reference?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will add to that. Corporate strategies are quite significant. Bodies follow their corporate strategies and what is in them can have considerable significance. I ask the Minister of State to address that point in terms of the question posed.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will come at this issue from a slightly different angle. The thinking on MAC is that it is not an environmental decision, so it does not need to go through the processes an environmental decision would. Presumably, a MAC would allow somebody who is looking to develop in the maritime area to carry out surveying work in order to get an application together looking for a licence. If...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The first question was one I had asked also.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The Minister of State is saying that obtaining a MAC does not give anyone the ability to carry out any works that could have any impact in an area but it does give them an exclusivity in terms of the area for the ability to apply for those licences and permissions. Is this it in effect and nothing more than that? It could not have any environmental impact until an application for a licence...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Is the Minister of State saying that the MAC does not give anyone the right to carry out any activity whatsoever, and that they are all subject to subsequent processes, be it licensing or planning permissions?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Does the MAC give someone exclusivity to that piece?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Nov 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: You could have five different companies with a MAC for the exact same plot of marine land or overlapping-----