I move consequential amendment No. 14c4: Section 5: In page 4, line 12 to delete “(4) The Minister” and substitute “(3) The Minister”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c5: Section 5: In page 4, line 21 to delete “(5) Having,” and substitute “(4) Having,”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c6: Section 5: In page 4, line 24, to delete “subsection (4)(a)” and substitute “subsection (3)(a)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c7: Section 5: In page 4, line 26, to delete “subsection (4)(b)” and substitute “subsection (3)(b)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c8: Section 5: In page 4, between lines 34 and 35 to insert the following: “(5) (a) Subject to subsection (6), before the Minister makes an order under subsection (4)(b) relating to a natural heritage area containing a blanket bog habitat, he or she shall, for the purposes referred to in subsection (2), conduct a review of blanket bog habitats. (b) The review conducted under paragraph (a) shall include designated blanket bog natural heritage areas and other blanket bog natural h…

I move consequential amendment No. 14c9: Section 5: In page 4, line 35, to delete “(6) Where” and substitute “(7) Where”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c10: Section 5: In page 4, line 35, to delete “subsection (5)(b)” and substitute “subsection (4)(b)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c11: Section 5: In page 5, line 14, to delete “(7) Section 19(2)” and substitute “(8) Section 19(2)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c12: Section 5: In page 5, line 18, to delete “subsection (5)(b)” and substitute “subsection (4)(b)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c13: Section 5: In page 5, line 19, to delete “(8) In this section—” and substitute “(9) In this section—”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c14: Section 5: In page 5, line 22, to delete “subsection (5)(a)” and substitute “subsection (4)(a)”.

I move consequential amendment No. 14c15: Section 5: In page 5, line 23, to delete “subsection (5)(b)” and substitute “subsection (4)(b)”.

I move: That the Committee do not agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 15 to the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016 . Amendments Nos. 15c1 and 15c2 are minor redrafts to better reflect the intention behind an Opposition amendment accepted and passed in the Seanad. Under the draft Bill, one of the factors to assess whether or not to de-designate a natural heritage area, NHA, is environmental criteria. The latter are defined in the Bill as meaning the conservation value of a bog, taking into account the area, range, ha…

I move consequential amendment No. 15c1: In page 5, line 33 to insert “that is not or are not situated in a candidate special area of conservation or a special area of conservation” after “bog”.

I move consequential amendment No. 15c2: In page 5, line 38 to insert “that is not or are not situated in a candidate special area of conservation or a special area of conservation” after “bog”.

For the information of the House, in addition to what we have done by means of the amendments that have been agreed, it will be necessary to change the title of the Minister as it appears in the Bill. This can only happen by means of legislation introduced at a later date. The wording used in the Bill is "the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht". This reflects the historic title of the Minister with responsibility for heritage. Since the Bill was last before the Dáil, however, the title of that Ministe…

In its latest water indicators report, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has found that, overall, there was no significant improvement in the biological quality of our rivers or lakes in 2022. While it is welcome to see that improvements are happening in some areas, these are being completely offset by declines elsewhere. This EPA report highlights that too much nitrogen and phosphorous is getting into our waterways. Nitrogen is coming mainly from agricultural fertilisers and manures, and phosphorus is comi…

I have.

I will try to respond quickly to some of the points raised by Deputies. I thank everybody for their valuable contributions. Deputy Ó Broin raised the issue of septic tanks, as did a number of other Deputies. We are working on the issue of the registration issue around septic tanks. It is critically important and I agree with all that has been said there. Certainly, there is an inspection regime. What I also received this morning from that is that the follow-up relating to the inspections seems to be quite poor. Dep…

I move: That Standing Order 233(2) is modified to provide that it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in relation to the Historical and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023, that the Committee has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing subject matter of the Bill, in relation to: (a) the Foreshore Act 1933 to provide a possible pathway for existing foreshore applications received under the Foreshore Act 1933 but not decided to mo…