Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not see how. It would not be necessary. Apart from that, I could not tell the Senator when such a Bill would be before the House. A lot of work has been done on this Bill so far. We felt that the best way to give marine spatial planning the recognition it needed was to include it in this Bill. By doing so, it is placed in parallel with the national planning framework, which is covered by the Bill. They will be aligned in a single Bill and recognised as being equal in terms of being important long-term plans for the country. That is why they are together. I see no great benefit in having a separate Bill. Doing so might give marine spatial planning its own standing, but it would not make much difference.