John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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As part of the preparatory process towards the introduction of comprehensive legislation to address noise nuisance, extensive public consultation was undertaken during which over 200 submissions were received from the public and key stakeholders. After due consideration of these submissions, the General Scheme of a Noise Nuisance Bill was prepared and approved by the Government in May 2009. At the time the Scheme was approved, a number of issues were identified which would have to be addressed during the drafting of the Bill. My Department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, is progressing matters in this regard and the Bill is scheduled for publication later this year.

While there are already a wide range of measures in place to deal with noise from a variety of sources, the aim of the new legislation will be to take a more integrated approach to noise nuisance, including through codes of practice for construction, commercial and domestic situations. There will, in addition, be measures to increase awareness of how noise nuisance can be addressed and I am currently examining options to strengthen existing local authority powers, including the possible introduction of a system of fixed payment notices in relation to noise nuisance offences.