To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to outline any legislative reform her Department is considering with regard to improving Environmental Impact Assessments within the planning system.

The statutory obligations relating to the planning system which derive from EU Directives on environmental impact assessment – or EIA - are appropriately transposed into extant domestic planning legislation.

The most recent legislative change was the introduction of the Planning (EIA) Regulations (NI) 2017 in May 2017 which transposed the requirements of the 2014 EIA Amendment Directive.

I am satisfied that there is no requirement for legislative change currently. That said, the practical requirements of meeting those statutory obligations is something which can pose challenges to a planning authority, particularly in light of complex planning applications and the training and development of existing and new staff across the planning system.

To assist in this, my Department has taken forward a range of work to support capacity across the sector in relation to environmental governance with a particular focus on EIA.