Results 8,981-9,000 of 15,009 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: To be clear, will the Minister of State explain in plain English what is meant by a default boundary? I think I understood it from the technical definition he gave. Is it intended to ensure consistency of the boundary from one county to another?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister of State might let me test his geology and marine biology knowledge now. Ordinarily, how is the foreshore defined? I had presumed it was a physical thing with some presence. How will a default boundary respect the natural, geographical boundaries of the foreshore? Are they contiguous all the way?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Will that create a potential unintended consequence such that in order for the line to be continuous where it crosses from one county to another and the natural geography is not continuous, there could be a reduction or extension of the foreshore beyond where it is naturally is? Does that make sense?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is fine. If, after a proper survey has been carried out, a reason is identified for it not to be continuous and the foreshore extends a little into another county, will that be taken adequately into account?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes, I apologise. I suspect that is not the last time we will make that mistake.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I acknowledge that the Minister of State's officials will say including a list of prescribed bodies in the definitions could be described as an innovation, to be generous about it, but there is genuine concern among the public regarding the environmental and biodiversity implications of everything that will happen in our marine in the coming decades. I suspect the Minister of State will...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am not surprised by the Minister of State's response. I mean that respectfully. Part of the purpose of tabling the amendments is to give us the opportunity to raise issues. Where appropriate, it is important to see the organisations that are listed here in the regulations. It may be the view of the Minister or his officials that an organisation may not want to be consulted on a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 15: In page 20, line 7, after “record” to insert the following: “, but a record shall not be confused with information held, particularly for the purposes of Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC or the Freedom of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am not convinced that the Minister of State is clear about the point I am trying to make. Perhaps that is because I did not make it clearly enough. A record is a physical document, so when I put in an FOI request, I ask for a copy of a letter sent from politician X to Minister Y. Information is a much wider category, in the sense that it does not have to be in a formal record or...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister of State's objection is dealt with in my amendment by the explicit reference to the directive. There is no point going around the houses on this but I will be pressing the amendment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I wish to seek clarification on a technical matter. This section relates to the application of the legislation. Were there any discussions in the Department or are there any concerns about how this will impact or apply in areas where there are disputed territorial waters? Rockall is the one that has been in the news most, but I would like to know whether it also has any implications for...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is detailed in that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 25: In page 23, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “(c) the representations of fishing representative bodies and coastal community groups given to the Minister pursuant to subsection (5)(b);”. The Minister of State may be unable to accept this amendment for technical reasons but it is tabled for the purposes of raising the matter and...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister of State. I accept the premise of his critique of the amendment. In response, while he is right as a general rule, in many aspects of planning and, indeed, in some aspects of licensing, prescribed organisations are given the preferential treatment of being statutorily included in the process whereby they are notified of the opportunity to engage in a way that a general...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Again, I do not see where "four weeks" is written in this section. Will that be introduced by way of statutory instrument, or am I missing that it in the section? Could the Minister of State please let me know where it is? I would then like to follow up with a second comment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes, it is states, "inviting members of the public [...] not later than four weeks.” Here is the difficulty. Four weeks is a short period of time. We are not dealing with a standard planning application. We are dealing with things that can often be complex, both from a technical and scientific point of view. Many of us would have met with, for example, the National Inshore...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: This is another opportunity for the Minister of State to clarify matters. I think he is saying that because this is just a technical drawing of boundaries to determine which local authority is responsible for each area, there will be a shorter consultation period. Has there been discussion or consideration of whether there could end up being disputes, not necessarily between local...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Is it the Minister of State's intention to have prescribed bodies at any stage or will it be an open, public consultation?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (19 Oct 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will be happy to withdraw the amendment. I ask, however, that the Minister of State discuss with his officials whether there would be a benefit to tabling Government amendments at a later Stage to give the Minister the power to introduce, by way of regulation, appropriate prescribed bodies. It might be a positive that would assist the process.