Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

This is an important set of amendments. It is the first time that pipelines will be brought within the planning system. That is an appropriate move. Amendment No. 86 is a major amendment to the Bill which I flagged during my Second Stage speech. It inserts three new sections into the 2000 Act, sections 182C, 182D and 182E. This provides for a new consent procedure for major gas pipelines and related infrastructure and for a pre-application consultation procedure for both electricity transmission lines and for gas pipelines.

It is, therefore, an important amendment and a significant move forward in terms of having a consistent approach in planning across the entire range of infrastructure. The new consent procedure is based on one already included for electricity transmission lines in sections 182A and 182B derived from that for local authorities' own developments requiring EIAs. It is modified to take account of the differences occasioned by the Gas Acts. In particular, it should be noted that the upstream and downstream gas pipelines currently have different consent authorities, namely, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for upstream and the Commissioner for Energy Regulation, CER, for downstream. The new consent procedure has to take account of this difference by ensuring that the CER, in particular, is notified in appropriate cases.

As Senators will be aware, up to now gas pipelines and associated developments have not in any way been subject to the scrutiny of the planning system. They were instead examined by either the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in the case of upstream pipelines or the CER in the case of downstream pipelines. The Minister or the CER were responsible for examining the EIS submitted with the development and ensuring the development did not unduly affect the environment, so a contract with the ordinary planning system was a requirement to consult the local authority.

However, the Government felt it was appropriate for the board to be assigned the responsibility of examining land-based gas pipelines from an environmental and planning point of view. That ensures that the existing authorities can concentrate on economic and regulatory issues. These pipelines relate to critical natural resources which must be carefully managed to ensure our future security of energy supply.

Turning to the new procedure, like the electricity line procedure, section 182C provides that a person intending to carry out a strategic gas infrastructure development, which is defined in amendment No. 97, will have to give public notice of the application as well as notifying the local authority and the prescribed bodies. The application will have to include an EIS. The board is entitled to ask for additional information or for a proposed development to be altered with public notification if the information or change is significant.

Amendment No. 85 will delete a subparagraph in the section relating to the application procedure for electricity transmission lines. The deletion is consequential on the amendment of the pre-application procedures for electricity transmission being proposed in amendment No. 86. The new section being proposed, namely, section 182E, will specifically provide for the statutory undertaker to seek and receive such an opinion from the board making the words being deleted unnecessary.

With regard to flagging Report Stage amendments, it should be noted that my Department continues to consult with colleagues in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources which is considering two specific issues, namely, any necessary consequential amendments to the Gas Acts and whether section 182A is sufficiently broad to capture all types of major electricity lines, particularly the east-west connector. I may bring forward minor amendments in regard to these issues on Report Stage. As I already mentioned, I am most anxious that a consistent approach be adopted across the system.

Amendment No. 88 to the Seventh Schedule will delete the reference to natural gas pipelines and associated buildings from the Seventh Schedule being inserted into the principal Act. Essentially, this will mean that all development comprising, for the purposes of, or associated with, strategic gas pipelines will go through the new consent procedure being proposed under sections 182C and 182D. This has the merit of providing consistency across the various infrastructure types, which is necessary to ensure that there is total clarity between the consent procedure being applied to gas pipelines and associated developments. It will also ensure that strategic gas infrastructure developments are dealt with in an holistic way as one complete project, as opposed to a number of smaller projects. The amendment will also add clarity to, and improve the efficiency of, the planning process in regard to strategic gas infrastructure.

Given that I propose the deletion of the section referred to in the Senator's amendment, I do not propose to accept amendment No. 89.