Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We all acknowledge the need to reform this particular Act. There will be an indepth opportunity for the Senator and all his colleagues, when the Bill is published, to engage in debate and put forward views and, if necessary, amendments. Those views will be welcome and we can debate them at that time. For the moment, we await the Bill. The commitment has been made to bring it to the Houses of the Oireachtas in the current Oireachtas term and I think that will happen.

I shall reiterate what I said about the current number of applications with the Department. Each of them will be assessed in the context of the relevant regulatory framework. We have obligations under the EU birds and habitats legislation. All I can say to reassure the Senator is that the process will include a public consultation phase for each application and we would welcome anybody with an interest to make their views known during that process. I thank the Senator.