2.—(1) In this Act—

“Act of 1961” means Road Traffic Act, 1961;

“Act of 1963” means Transport Act, 1963;

“Act of 1993” means Roads Act, 1993;

“Act of 1994” means Road Traffic Act, 1994;

“Act of 1996” means Transport (Dublin Light Rail) Act, 1996;

“Act of 2000” means Planning and Development Act, 2000;

F1[“Act of 2024” means the Planning and Development Act 2024;]

“Agency” means Railway Procurement Agency established under section 9;

“applicant” in Part 3, means the Agency, CIÉ, or any other person applying for a railway order;

“authorised person” means a person authorised as an authorised person under section 36;

“CIÉ” means Córas Iompair Éireann;

F1[“Commission” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2024;]

F2[“designated body” means an authority designated by the Minister under section 39A;]

“driving” in relation to a light rail vehicle includes managing and controlling the vehicle, and “driver” and other cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

F3[…]

F2[“EIA Directive” means Directive No. 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011³ on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014⁴;]

F2[“environmental impact assessment”,in relation to proposed railway works, means a process—

(a) consisting of—

(i) the preparation of an environmental impact assessment report by the applicant in accordance with section 39,

(ii) the carrying out of consultation required by or under this Part,

(iii) the examination by the Board of—

(I) the information presented in the environmental impact assessment report,

(II) any further information provided by the applicant under section 41 and, where applicable, section 47D, and

(III) any relevant information received through consultation under section 40, section 41 and, where applicable, section 47D,

(iv) the reaching of a reasoned conclusion by the Board in accordance with section 42B on the significant effects of the proposed railway works on the environment, taking into account the results of the examination referred to in subparagraph (iii) and, where appropriate, its own supplementary examination, and

(v) the integration by the Board of its reasoned conclusion into its decision under section 43,

and

(b) including an examination, analysis and evaluation by the Board under sections 42B and 43 in order to identify, describe and assess, in the light of each individual case, the direct and indirect significant effects of the proposed railway works, including significant effects derived from the vulnerability of the activity to risks of major accidents and disasters relevant to it, on—

(i) population and human health,

(ii) biodiversity, with particular attention to species and habitats protected under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992⁵ and Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009⁶,

(iii) land, soil, water, air and climate,

(iv) material assets, cultural heritage and the landscape, and

(v) the interaction between the factors mentioned in subparagraphs (i) to (iv);]

F2[“environmental impact assessment report” shall be construed in accordance with section 39(1) and (2);]

“establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 8 to be the establishment day for the purposes of Part 2;

“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include, as respect powers and duties, references to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;

“land” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2000;

“light rail vehicle” means a vehicle with flanged wheels designed to run on a light railway;

“light railway” means a railway designated as a light railway in a railway order issued under section 43;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“metro” means a railway designated as a metro in a railway order issued under section 43;

“Minister” means Minister for Public Enterprise;

“planning authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2000;

F4[“prescribed” in Part 3, means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;]

“public place” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1961;

“public road” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“railway” means a railway (whether above, on or under the ground) whose operation is authorised by a railway order;

“railway infrastructure” means any land, buildings, structures, equipment, systems, vehicles, services or other thing used in connection with, or necessary or incidental to, the movement of passengers or freight by railway;

“railway order” means an order under section 43;

“railway undertaking” means any person who has been granted a railway order or another person with whom that person has made arrangements under F5[section 43(5)];

“railway works” means any works required for the purposes of a railway or any part of a railway, including works ancillary to the purposes aforesaid such as parking by buses or by persons using vehicles who intend to complete their journey by railway, and relocation of utilities, and in this definition “works” includes any act or operation of construction, excavation, tunnelling, demolition, extension, alteration, reinstatement, reconstruction, making good, repair or renewal;

“rights” in relation to a railway order includes rights which exist or which are proposed to be created in the order;

“road” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“road authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1993;

“substratum of land” means any subsoil or anything beneath the surface of land required—

(i) for the purposes of a tunnel or tunnelling or anything connected therewith, or

(ii) for any other purpose connected with a railway order;

“superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities and other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death.

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended,

(c) a reference to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(d) a reference to a statutory instrument shall be construed as a reference to that instrument as amended, adapted or extended by any subsequent statutory instrument.

F2[(3) A word or expression that is used in this section or in Part 3 and that is also used in the EIA Directive has the same meaning as it has in that Directive.]