Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

One part of the amendment has been partially addressed by amendment No. 6, which I supported. It clarifies that it is the members of a planning authority. That was one part. The concern about the two points of initiation is to be clear where the decision would sit. There is still a concern. The Minister of State mentioned some parts, like section 11D(10), not being a concern. However, the concerns are things like the consideration of the effects and the impact the plan or the extension might have, in respect of a European site, the strategic environmental assessment, or an appropriate assessment, and so forth. The hope would be, and this is almost in the second part of this amendment, that the extension would not have an effect until the appropriate various environmental checks and so forth had been conducted, and that the members were satisfied in relation to those. That was a sequencing issue, but an important one.