Results 1,601-1,620 of 4,718 for speaker:Malcolm Noonan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I will address amendment No. 136 as tabled by Deputy O'Callaghan; amendments Nos. 164, 244 and 1171 tabled by Deputy Matthews; amendment No. 199 tabled by Deputy Duffy; and amendment No. 201 tabled by Deputies Callaghan, Ó Broin, Gould, Ó Snodaigh, Boyd Barrett, Smith and Kenny. Amendments Nos. 136 and 164 relate to the national planning framework and amendments No. 136 proposes...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I would like to clarify the point raised by Deputy Matthews on the reference to the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021. That was the plan in place when the Bill was published therefore the fourth national biodiversity plan covers the period from 2023 to 2030.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I apologise, Deputy. What I am saying is that we need to consider that given we have just adopted the new national biodiversity action plan, it is now on a statutory footing. It is important to look at the totality of this legislation and how it interacts with that. There is a hierarchy of plan-making in terms of the national planning framework, this Bill and, particularly important, local...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I do not disagree with any strengthening of this Bill with regard to biodiversity, absolutely not. The Deputy will appreciate that the national biodiversity action plan was only adopted by Government since this Bill was published. It is now on a statutory footing. What we want to do is try to achieve that strengthening within this Bill and give effect to what the national biodiversity...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: In the specific section the Deputy is talking about, titled "Considerations for issuance of National Planning Statement", subsection 24(1)(g) refers to "prevention, reduction, amelioration and mitigation of risks of environmental damage". It is important to look at that specific section to ensure that wording around biodiversity is included. It addresses issues such as damage or "risks to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: What I am saying is-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The point I am making, and that I keep making, is that we have just recently adopted the new national biodiversity action plan. For the first time, the plan is on a statutory footing. All public bodies will have to have regard to it and there is a reporting mechanism back to the Minister with regard to its delivery. We want to ensure this Bill reflects that. I have given a commitment to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I am not. I am suggesting that it is an area of the Bill that will be strengthened.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: It is a point well made. I will give a commitment. The Deputy is correct in what he is saying. I will try to paint a broader picture of what we are trying to achieve. This is the first real test of the national biodiversity action plan and how it beds in with legislation. What we are attempting to achieve, as we said in the plan, is an all-of-government and all-of-society response. It...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I reflect on all of the contributions from Deputies. It is a marked departure in this Dáil that we have had such a focus on biodiversity in the past number of years. It speaks volumes about how all Deputies across the House care for this. That is reflected in the quality of amendments brought forward. I wish to give assurance that what we are trying to achieve is a strengthening of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I do not think so. No.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I think it has to.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Yes. It is quite clear in the explanatory memorandum, which states, "The strategy shall include objectives relating to compact urban development, [and] sustainable integrated transport systems".

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I know; I appreciate that. That is what we have given a commitment to do.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The case law is very clear on lack of consideration of public transport. It can be refused if consideration is not given to the public transport in an area. Does that clarify the matter?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Again, biodiversity is referenced in Chapter 2 on the national planning framework. I am coming back to the point that I appreciate the point Deputies O'Callaghan and Duffy have made. The critical thing from our perspective is to try to achieve coherence across the plan as it pertains to the recently adopted fourth national biodiversity action plan. That is what we are trying to achieve....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (13 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 381 and 382 together. The general scheme of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Bill was published in December 2022. Following the scrutiny of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, my Department has been working in close collaboration with parliamentary drafters to develop this Bill. While it was initially hoped to publish in 2023, the legal, technical and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Marine Protected Areas (13 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 383 to 385, inclusive, together. For the purposes of this reply, Special Protection Areas (SPAs) have a marine element if their boundary encompasses marine waters. 39 such SPAs have published detailed site-specific conservation objective documents. In addition to Activities Requiring Consent, across all of Ireland’s Special Protection Areas...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Strategies (13 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Implementation of the National Landscape Strategy is implicit in many of the actions taken across the built and natural heritage sphere. The current work being undertaken across Government in the context of the land use review will supplant and overtake that strategy. Meantime, my Department has made very substantial progress on issues of habitat and wildlife protection, which are tied...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Issues (13 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Waterways Ireland proposes to update the Shannon Bye-laws and Canal Bye-laws which are more than 30 years old and no longer fit for purpose. The needs of users have changed, environmental landscape and health and safety considerations have developed significantly and the waterways themselves have been transformed over the past thirty years. The purpose of updating the Bye-laws is to make the...