Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

There are already various provisions, in both the 1992 Act and the 1994 licensing regulations made under that Act, which put time limits on various aspects of the licensing process. These include, under section 87(3) of the new Part IV, an eight-week time limit on the EPA to issue a proposed determination from the date of receipt of all relevant information. This is extendable only with the agreement of the applicant.

Under the 1994 licensing regulations, there is a four-month time limit on the EPA to issue a final decision where objections are received, starting at the end of the period for objections. These can be extended in complex cases by the agency.

Analysis of the agency's performance in 2001, the latest year for which full information is available, showed compliance with the statutory obligations in terms of processing applications. Delays in processing licences occur in the supply, by applicants, of all information necessary to assess their proposals fully.

The agency receives licence applications which often involve considerable technical complexity, public interest and importance for the environment. These considerations must be balanced against the need for an efficient decision-making process. The current legislative framework provides this balance. Accordingly I do not propose to accept the amendment for the outlined reasons, which are more than fair and working well.