Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will come to a similar amendment, amendment No. 17, shortly.Because of the safeguard provisions in section 11D, that is, the effect of the extension on the development plan, the environment, European sites and the need for a strategic environmental assessment or an appropriate assessment, the concern is that screening as to whether these assessments are needed and any related period of extension could have a significant impact. The concern is that there could be a two-month extension, a five-month extension or another six-month extension, and that each individual extension might not in itself constitute much. I have tried to deal with this issue more specifically in amendment No. 17, where I specifically reference "cumulative" in relation to these assessments. The concern is that it is pushed out. In terms of the bigger picture, a year is a long time and two years is a very long time. In terms of our environmental or climate goals, we have ten years in which to halve our emissions. Each year matters significantly. The concern is that what we have is a piecemeal approach, with each extension being viewed as "only six months". We are trying to address that in this amendment. We want the Bill to state that there would be cumulatively no more than one year in terms of triggering these things. I drill down a little more specifically on that point in amendment No. 17.