James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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18. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the development of the marine planning and development Bill 2019. [17638/20]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The General Scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill was approved by Government in December 2019 and published by my Department in January this year. This Bill will provide the legislative basis for Ireland's new marine planning regime, which includes forward planning, development management and enforcement.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to enact this legislation in nine months and this timeframe reflects the priority that this legislation has been accorded.

Since the publication of the General Scheme in January, the focus is on further policy development work on the development of certain aspects of the proposed regime and engagement is continuing with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, other Departments and agencies on the drafting of the legal text.

In terms of next steps, it is intended that Government approval will be sought for certain changes and improvements to the General Scheme. It is further, expected that General Scheme will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme. These are necessary steps to facilitate the conclusion of drafting and the publication of the Bill.