Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I know what the Senator is driving at and I myself have no problem with putting in time limits, but we must look at the context within which we are dealing – certainly with the two specific issues under the Act to which I have referred. All the latest available data indicate that where there are limits they are working well.

We should also bear in mind that an applicant must co-operate in the process. Many of the delays are in the getting and the assembling of information, but by and large this is working. If I must come back at some stage in the future on the basis of its not working, I will do so. There are time limits under other Acts already in place and we should encourage people to continue in that process.

I do not want to get everybody tied up in a bureaucracy where the date then suddenly becomes everything. That would lead to the High Court because somebody did not comply by the date, leading to another area of appeal. We must be realistic, professional and confident in the authorities carrying out their statutory functions in a manner efficient and consistent with both protecting the environment and, on the other hand, economic activity.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.