15. Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following subsection:

“(3A) The Minister or the Office of the Planning Regulator may, in relation to a proposed variation of a development plan, make such recommendations as the Minister or that Office, as the case may be, considers appropriate.”,

(b) in subsection (4), by—

(i) substituting the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b):

“(ii) provide a summary of—

(I) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Minister, where the notice under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) was sent before the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator,

(II) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Office of the Planning Regulator, and

(III) the submissions and observations made by any other persons,

in relation to the draft development plan in accordance with this section,”,

and

(c) by inserting the following subsection:

“(14) In this section ‘statutory obligations’ includes, in relation to a local authority, the obligation to ensure that the development plan is consistent with—

(a) the national and regional development objectives specified in—

(i) the National Planning Framework, and

(ii) the regional spatial and economic strategy,

and

(b) specific planning policy requirements specified in guidelines under subsection (1) of section 28.”.