Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

This proposes to provide for the notification of the Minister, the board and the prescribed bodies at the draft amendment stage of the development plan. This is to rectify the anomaly that while the Minister, the board and the prescribed bodies are provided for as statutory consultees in the making of a draft development plan, it is only implicit thereafter that these should be consulted at the draft amendment stage. A further amendment on Committee Stage will allow additional time for both the strategic environment assessment and habitats appropriate assessment of proposed material amendments to a draft development plan and to allow the manager to decide how much additional time is required to carry out such assessments rather than prescribing a specific additional period. This will enable the authority to meet fully the requirements under EU directives.

Amendment No. 17 provides clarity that the resolution relates to any resolution as opposed to a specific resolution. Amendment No. 22 is proposed as a consequential amendment to that proposed above to allow the discretion of a manager to decide on additional time for an assessment, to allow the existing timeframe of two years where no environmental assessment of proposed amendments is necessary and where such an assessment is necessary to allow a maximum of four months. If appropriate in the circumstances it also provides flexibility to the manager to decide on a period of longer than two years or four months to facilitate such an assessment.