Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

I cannot accept the line that the planning Bill has been considered in full. As the Minister knows, I was very engaged with it on Committee and Report Stages. This is one of the most substantial pieces of legislation the Oireachtas has ever considered but we certainly do not have enough time tonight to debate the massive number of new amendments that we have not had an opportunity to debate before in the Dáil. They were introduced in the Seanad.

With respect, the Minister has not responded to my point about the High Court decision last week, nor about the very valid concerns that have been raised, not only by us in opposition but also by Friends of the Earth this morning, about the LNG terminal amendments. As Friends of the Earth has noted, the new amendments contradict official Government policy. This amounts to gaslighting. There is a contradiction between the Bill with these new amendments and agreed Government policy on LNG. That is something that has been pointed out objectively. Friends of the Earth has pointed to a public poll showing strong public opposition to the LNG terminal. These are the concerns we have not had the opportunity to debate previously in the Dáil. We have only three hours to debate those amendments and all the others tonight. The key questions, to which the Minister has not responded, remain. If the Government is not trying to bring in LNG by the back door, why is it legislating for fast-tracked LNG planning? Why is it failing to legislate for key climate conditions on gas infrastructure as outlined in its own energy security review? It just does not add up and we will not have time to get to the root of what the issue is with these amendments in tonight's deeply curtailed debate. It is really unacceptable.

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