While I acknowledge that the Minister of State explained amendment No. 56 briefly, could he give us a little more detail or clarity regarding why the wording is being changed?

During the very lengthy Committee Stage hearings we had on this legislation, one of the points I made regularly was that our party, and in fact everybody on the committee, urgently wants us to be able to get up and running with the planning regime for the marine in order that we can progress our renewable wind energy projects to meet those crucial targets, not only as part of the Government's climate action plan but also to meet our commitments under international and European agreements. The concern many of us had…

To be clear, nobody is talking about ripping up the marine planning framework. There are many aspects of the marine planning framework which are very good, so it is important the Minister of State understands that we are not opposed to it or asking to rewrite it, and we would just like the review to happen earlier. While the Minister of State is correct that the Government does have to comply with the various articles of various EU directives, there is a long history of weak, poor or non-compliance with said direct…

I have seven seconds left.

We heard yesterday that the sensitivity mapping is not going to be complete until the end of next year. That is a significant time lag. What interim measures will be in place to ensure marine diversity is protected?

The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is correct. Clearly, there are protections in the planning process in advance of the designation of marine protected areas. The challenge is that they are not strong, particularly as they do not have to take into account to the same extent the ecosystems approach, which is crucial both to the maritime special planning directive and the marine protected areas legislation. What would be reassuring is, while the good work is under way on the marine protected areas legislation and …

I think we had established that quite clearly and accept it with good grace. I have one question. Is the Minister of State saying that there will be no additional interim protections in those areas where legacy projects are going to advance beyond the requirements within the existing planning regime in this Bill for environmental impact assessments and appropriate assessments? While I do not agree with his interpretation of the amendment, I will not waste our time arguing about that. We should have some additional …

Those of us with more Members are struggling with the schedule. It is not your fault.

Not this time anyway.

I wish to make a quick clarification on this amendment. I do not wish to comment on it.

I should have asked this earlier and thank the Ceann Comhairle for his indulgence. Will the Minister of State explain why "colocation" remains? The purpose of coexistence is the language from the directive. What is the value of this? I do not oppose the amendment, but I would like clarification on why "colocation" is being left in rather than replaced with "coexistence" which was agreed on Committee Stage.

I move amendment No. 16: In page 35, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(3) Notwithstanding anything elsewhere in this Act, the competent authority (D) shall prepare a DMAP, or any amendment to a DMAP, in accordance with the following sections, and as if the reference to “MSP” in those sections was construed to read “draft DMAP”, and the references to “competent authority (M)” was construed to read “competent authority (D)”: (a) Subsections (2), (4) and (5) of section 16, and (b) Subsection (1) of sec…

The Minister might help us clear up some confusion the Taoiseach has caused in recent days. Will he confirm that on foot of engagement from his Department, the Department of Finance is to organise a roadshow for institutional investors in the residential property market, including so-called cuckoo funds, to "reassure" those investors, in the words of the Department of Finance, following moves introduced by the Government to try to reduce the level of bulk-buying of family homes by such funds earlier this year?

I am quite confused. When the Minister was in opposition, he was very vocal, and rightly so, about the impact of certain categories of investors, which he called cuckoo funds, and the impact they were having on the affordability crisis. This question is about affordability because the Government continues to pursue the same policies as the previous Government, incentivising the wrong kinds of investors into the residential property market, to buy up homes - not build them - from under the noses of buyers. Given the…

It is clear the Minister has absolutely changed his position now that he is in office compared with when he was in opposition. When he was in opposition, he rightly highlighted the distorting impact of certain categories of investors, which he called cuckoo funds, on people's ability to buy homes. The mealy-mouthed measure the Minister introduced earlier this year, of a mere 8% increase in stamp duty, will do nothing to stop this category of investor bulk-buying at inflated prices homes that should be bought either…

As the Minister of State is aware, Dublin City Council, DCC, sought to amend the docklands strategic development zone, SDZ, two years ago to increase building heights and residential and commercial densities in that part of the city. After deliberating on the proposal for two years, An Bord Pleanála rejected the proposal, but that has been struck down in a recent High Court decision. While I am not asking the Minister to talk about any individual planning application or court decision, because he is prohibited from…

That response was interesting, but it did not deal with the central point that I asked the Minister of State to address. I will repeat it, therefore, but I will also give some more context. We have now had three, if not four, High Court judgments where decisions made by An Bord Pleanála on planning applications for material alterations to the docklands SDZ have been struck down. We have also had a growing number of conflicts between local authorities and An Bord Pleanála in the context of its decisions on strategic…

Again, the Minister of State's answer was very interesting but it did not address the question. I am not asking about the implementation of the 101 recommendations of the 2016 review, nor am I asking about the more comprehensive review of the planning system by the Attorney General. I am asking about a specific trend. In fact, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, raised similar concerns in the context of a court case between Dublin City Council and the board. It is not credible to have six or seven local authorities in co…

Deputy Ó Laoghaire and I recently met officials from the Department on this. We had a detailed discussion and one of the key problems is that where somebody's employment circumstances have changed in the past 12 months and their income has fallen, local authorities rigidly state it is the 12-month average irrespective of a change. This is not the flexibility provided for in the circular. The circular provides for flexibility with respect to a one-off payment. This needs to be changed. I will also send details to th…

I thank the Business Committee for agreeing to my request to have a debate on this important report, Monitoring Adequate Housing in Ireland, by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute. I wanted this debate not only to discuss the contents of the report but also because what the report's authors and sponsors are trying to do is really important. I am somewhat surprised and a little disappointed that in the 15 minutes of his opening statement, the Minister of Stat…