I move amendment No. 34: In page 24, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(ia) the worker did not feel confident to make a report under section 6, 7 or 8 due to a reasonable fear of penalisation;”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 35: In page 24, line 6, to delete “an imminent or manifest danger” and substitute “a danger”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 36: In page 24, lines 7 and 8, to delete “, such as where there is an emergency situation or a risk of irreversible damage”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 39: In page 24, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(4A) Where a Minister of the Government or a head of a public body receives a protected disclosure which is outside the remit of their Department of State or public body, they shall seek the views of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner and with the consent of the reporting person transmit to the relevant Minister of the Government or head of a public body the protected disclosure.”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the ri…

Unfortunately, I regard the section as a step backwards and formally oppose the section.

I have to join with the points made by Senator Ó Donnghaile about regretting that we have not been having these transition statements in the way we should have done over the last few years. I was in the last Oireachtas and we had them at that point. There are two aspects of regret. It has been an opportunity missed by the Government in forwarding the climate debate to have these transition statements every year. I would also note the powers that were there under the 2015 Act for the relevant Minister to request oth…

Yes.

Section 17 amends section 177L of the principal Act to reflect the repeal of section 177D, which relates to applications for leave. Section 177D, which is being repealed by section 21 of the Bill, which I will be opposing, provides for the decision of the board not to grant substitute consent. In its submission to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, the Irish Environmental Network recommended that there would be an amendment to the existing gate…

Section 18 amends section 177M of the principal Act to reflect the repeal of section 117D, which relates to application for leave, amends the reference to section 261A and channels applications to 177E, which has been amended. A key element in this section is the deletion of the phrase "in a case where it granted leave to apply for substitute consent on the grounds that exceptional circumstances exist, or in a case where the application is made in compliance with a direction to apply for substitute consent under se…

I wish to speak on section 19. The section amends section 177N of the principal Act and deletes the phrase "for leave to apply for substitute consent" throughout. Section 177N provides for the powers of the Minister to make regulations regarding substitute consent. This section will remove the powers of the Minister to make regulations in respect of leave to apply for substitute consent. To be extremely clear, it would mean a more favourable situation for developers, something that I believe risks a bar of incentiv…

I move amendment No. 12: In page 13, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: "Threshold for substitute consent 21. The provisions of this Act including the right to apply for substitute consent shall not be applicable in respect of projects which have an estimated commercial value of greater than €5,480,000.". Amendment No. 12 would insert a new section into the legislation that would state: "The provisions of this Act including the right to apply for substitute consent shall not be applicable in respect …

I note that the Minister of State has not addressed my point on the additional applications. Perhaps he might expand on that, given as I say that this not an arbitrary threshold. This threshold is recognised in the EU in procurement laws and others as major works. Does the Minister of State feel that it is appropriate or acceptable for a project or a proposed development of more than €5 million on adjoining land to be attached to an application for a substitute consent on a site? Can the Minister clarify his positi…

To be clear, section 16 does not say that they have to be linked to the current use. This could be, as I understand it, any use on an adjoining site. Effectively, this case will arise when there are two properties beside each other. Therefore, it is not linked to the substitute consent, which is its application. There is that question. This does not really answer the question. In fact, neither of the questions have been answered. It is in that context that I will press the amendment.

Vótáil.

Section 21 repeals a number of really important provisions in the principal Act and the original measures we had for substitute consent. I will not go through all of them but I signal I may bring forward amendments on Report Stage on the specific different provisions being repealed in this section. While I will oppose the section which relates to the repeal of a group of provisions of the principal Act, I am conscious some colleagues may agree with me on some of the areas and not on others. This section repeals sec…

Why is it inserted in the Bill? If it is such a terrible thing that nobody wants to use, we could easily remove that.

This is additional. This is what is getting added in. It is not getting added because nobody wanted it. Basically, it means this goes straight to An Bord Pleanála. Of course, people can apply through the normal process and that is already there. This is a different route that is being inserted. If it is such a terrible route that nobody would ever want to take, why have it in the Bill, why introduce it? Why create it today, in June 2022? Why suddenly insert this new provision if nobody wants it and it is so terribl…

I have an amendment coming up that will allow for the issue to be surveyed and then, good or bad, for the consequences or the impacts to be assessed.

I move amendment No. 13: In page 14, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “ Report on substitute consent 23. The Minister shall, within 18 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining- (a) the number of applications for substitute consent received in the preceding 18 month period which were made and the number granted (b) any impacts identified in respect of other planning applications, and (c) the relevant exceptional circumstance in respect of each su…

When the Minister replies to me and Senator Boyhan, he might comment on my concern as to whether the information would be available. Would information on things like the relevant exceptional circumstance in relation to each successful application be available? Perhaps it would. I ask the Minister to indicate whether he is confident that all of the three relevant items of information would be available so that a committee could choose to scrutinise them.