Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 24, after line 38, to insert the following: “(10) Subsections (2), (3), (5), (6), (7)(a)shall, with all necessary modifications, apply to an amendment made to or a revocation of a Marine Planning Policy Statement issued under this section as those subsections apply to a marine planning policy statement issued under this section.”.

Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 are very similar. Amendment No. 10 is probably the preferential framing but I always try to provide options. This amendment addresses and corrects section 6, where there is a strange anomaly at the moment. While there are requirements for the development and approval of a marine planning policy statement, there do not seem to be the same kind of processes and checks and balances around changes to the statement thereafter. That is inconsistent. According to this amendment, amendments or revocations of marine planning policy statements would be treated in the same way as the original marine planning policy statement in how they are developed and approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas. It does not make sense to create a back door into the process whereby a marine policy planning statement goes through the process of approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas and then a Minister independently makes changes to it thereafter without those kinds of checks and balances. It is not in the spirit of things and it creates an ambiguity. Others would question whether the policy statement is an appropriate instrument at all. Some environmental NGOs have highlighted that question but for now, if there is a policy statement, at the very minimum it should be subject to proper scrutiny, in whatever form that ends up.

I welcome that the Minister of State has responded previously to some concerns around the Bill as initiated as regards amendments or revocations. Specifically, there was some shift on policy directives but the marine planning policy statement is still subject to that same loophole. Having addressed some of the concerns about policy directives, I ask that the Minister of State be consistent and ensure there is proper scrutiny for marine planning policy statements.

Amendment No. 11 is another version of my proposal in amendment No. 10. Amendment No. 18 relates to exactly the same issue but with regard to ministerial guidelines. I am proposing that there be proper oversight and a proper process in order that, when ministerial guidelines are changed, they be subject to appropriate scrutiny. Otherwise, I worry we might have a base point policy statement or guidelines wherein points that might have invited proper Oireachtas debate and scrutiny could be introduced later simply by ministerial discretion.Could the Minister of State address those issues, particularly regarding amendment No. 10 on the policy statement and amendment No. 18 in terms of guidelines?